Collin Lawrence
Biography
I am a hydrologist at the US Geological Survey (USGS) in the Science and Decisions Center (https://www2.usgs.gov/sdc/) in Reston, Virginia. I am broadly interested in studying the quantity and variability of water resources to support decision making. As part of the Science and Decisions Center, the work I do is inherently interdisciplinary. I work with other hydrologists, economists, and ecologists both within the Center and throughout the USGS. I also regularly reach out to experts in other federal agencies, state and local governments, academia, and the private sector for my research activities. Currently, I am investigating how floodplains in the Chesapeake Bay are able to mitigate the effects of downstream flooding in order to value floodplain ecosystem services. Also, I am researching the value of streamflow information which includes identifying users, uses, quantifying benefits of additional information and working with economists to consider the societal benefits of streamgages.
I received a B.S. in meteorology from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Earth System Science from the University of California, Irvine, where I researched the effects of glacier melt on streamflow.
Education
2014, Ph.D. Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine
2009, B.S. Meteorology, Texas A&M University
Professional Experience
2016 – present, Hydrologist, USGS Science and Decisions Center, Reston, VA
2015, Lecturer, GIS for Environmental Science, University of California, Irvine
Publications
Lawrence, C.B., 2014, Glaciers and freshwater resources in a changing climate, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Irvine, CA.
Science and Products
Stream Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox
The Stream Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping fluvial geomorphic features from high-resolution bare-earth elevation data. A Python toolbox for ArcGIS was built to calculate key metrics describing channel and floodplain geometry. Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox provides this ability in an automated fashion, allowing for regional...
Demonstrating the value of Earth observations—methods, practical applications, and solutions—group on Earth observations side event proceedings
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the European Association for Remote Sensing Companies, and the European Space Agency in coordination with the GEOValue Community hosted a side event to the Group on Earth Observations Plenary on October 23–24, 2017, in Washington, D.C. The workshop,...
Pearlman, Francoise; Lawrence, Collin B.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Geppi, Denna; Shapiro, Carl D.; Grasso, Monica; Pearlman, Jay; Adkins, Jeffery; Sawyer, Geoff; Tassa, Alessandra
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain aquifers—An engine for economic activity
U.S. Geological Survey science supports groundwater resource management in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region. The USGS Science and Decisions Center is working with the Water Availability and Use Science Program to integrate economics into a sophisticated model of groundwater in the region. The model will quantify the status of the groundwater...
Alhassan, Mustapha; Lawrence, Collin B.; Richardson, Steven; Pindilli, Emily J.
Valuation of the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, VA, USA
Floodplains and riparian wetlands provide several ecosystem services that directly benefit people. We present a methodology for valuing the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, a suburban watershed with extensive natural floodplains in northern Virginia. High-resolution lidar-derived data were...
Lawrence, Collin B.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Hogan, Dianna M.