Dr. Eric V. McDonald

Title: Research Professor
Affiliation: Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences
Location: DRI Reno
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 775.673.7302

Research Areas of Interest and Expertise

• Climate change
• Environmental restoration and site characterization
• Geochemical and hydrological analysis of soils and sediments
• Landscape evolution
• Quaternary geology
• Soil landscape relations
• Surface process geomorphology
• Soil stratigraphy
• Soil and surface water hydrology
• Vegetation and landscape dynamics

Research Projects

• Analysis of Desert Shrubs Along First-order Channels on Desert Piedmonts: Possible Indicators of Ecosystem Health and Historic Variation
• Basic Research Linkages Among the Soil-Hydrologic-Biologic Systems Common to the Desert Piedmonts, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds
• Catalogue of Analogs: Identifying Terrain Similarities between the World's Deserts and the US Army's Desert/Hot Weather test site, Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), southwestern Arizona
• Collaborative Research: Comparison of regional flood frequency responses to climatic variability in the Western U.S. during the late Holocene using modern, historical, and pre-historical information
• Collaborative Research: Processes driving rock uplift and flexural deformation following convergent tectonics: The fluvial terrace record of the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, Ebro Basin, Spain
• Combining Cosmogenic Nuclides and Soil Stratigraphy for Alluvial Fan Chronology and Regional Correlation: Eastern Mojave, California
• Geochemical and Physical Characteristics of Iraqi Dust and Soil Samples
• Geochemical and Physical Characteristics of Vehicle Endurance and Dust Test Courses at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
• Integrated Forecasting of Desert Terrain Conditions for Military Operations
• Integrated Site Design for the Restoration of Military Lands
• Landscape Position and Hillslope Hydrology Associated with the Middle Ranch Hayfield Restoration
• Master Environmental Reference Site (MERS): Deformation and recovery of desert pavements, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
• Remote Sensing for Mapping Near-Surface Playa Moisture Soil Sampling and Evaluation in Support of Estimating Carrying Capacity and Landscape Degradation at the NTC - Fort Irwin, CA
• Seedbed Microclimate: Modeling and Monitoring Soil Moisture in Support of the Restoration of Military Lands
• Soil Evaluation in Support of Estimating Carrying Capacity and Landscape Degradation at the NTC
• Soil and Geomorphological Evaluation of the Age of Islands in the Snake River Sector