Joshua Caster is a Geographer with the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC), and the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC), in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Joshua has experience conducting scientific investigations across a wide range of disciplines, including hydrology, hydrogeology, archaeology, geoarchaeology, geomorphology, biogeomorphology, and quaternary geology. His research interests focus on understanding past, present, and future landscape alterations within dryland ecosystems resulting from the changing environment and human activity. His current work with the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center supports a variety of environmental and cultural resource management efforts within Grand Canyon National Park and other federal lands throughout the southwestern United States. Much of this work incorporates field-based investigations with remote sensing technology, including light detection and ranging (lidar) instruments, airborne and drone-based photography, and satellite imagery, to quantify terrestrial surface processes. He uses these technologies to characterize bio-physical interactions at millimeter to multi-kilometer scales for refining our understanding of how and why dryland landscapes are changing and the role management actions can play in altering landscape evolution.
Professional Experience
2014 – Present: Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey
Education and Certifications
In Progress: Ph.D., Earth Systems, Northern Arizona University
2010: M.S., Physical Geography, University of North Texas
Science and Products
Is timing really everything? Evaluating Resource Response to Spring Disturbance Flows
High-Flow Experiments on the Colorado River
Connectivity of Sand Resources Along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
Is timing really everything? Evaluating Resource Response to Spring Disturbance Flows
Glen Canyon Dam has altered ecological processes of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Before the dam was built, the Colorado River experienced seasonable variable flow rates, including springtime flooding events. These spring floods scoured the river bottom and enhanced natural processes that sustained the Colorado River ecosystem. Since the dam’s construction in 1963, springtime floods have...High-Flow Experiments on the Colorado River
Glen Canyon Dam has altered flow and fine sediment (sand, silt, and clay) dynamics of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Before the dam, the Colorado River experienced highly variable flows and carried a large amount of sediment through Grand Canyon, which maintained sandbars (highly valued camping areas in Grand Canyon) and provided sand that protected archeological and cultural sites from...Connectivity of Sand Resources Along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
We study the links among different geomorphic processes that affect river valley landscapes in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona. Dam-released flows affect the deposition and retention of sandbars that serve as sources for other sand resources, such as windblown sand dunes, throughout the Colorado River ecosystem. The degree to which the landscapes are differentially... - Data
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