I am a process geomorphologist studying how landscape history, channel and hillslope morphology, and sediment transport are interconnected in landscapes. I combine field data and high-resolution remote sensing in a data dense, observation-based approach to describe and quantify the interconnected processes in natural landscapes. 

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at Franklin and Marshall College, working with the Chesapeake Watershed Initiative. 

I'm interested in:

• how the tectonic, climatic, and anthropogenic history of a landscape impacts modern surface processes
• ​connections between river morphology, fluid dynamics, and sediment transport
• controls on transporting coarse sediment, and the legacy of boulders on hillslopes and channels
• landscape response to extreme events
• developing new approaches to characterize landscapes at high resolution over space and time

Previously, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the River Dynamics Lab in the School of Environmental Science at Simon Fraser University, where I worked on how landslides impact fluid dynamics and salmon migration along the Fraser Canyon.  I completed my PhD with the geomorphology group in the Geosciences Department at Penn State University in 2022, where I explored how the tectonic history of the Taiwan Central Range influenced bedrock channel morphology and sediment cover. I got my bachelors in Geology-Chemistry from Brown University in 2014, where I first learned about structural geology, remote sensing, and exploring in the field. After college, I worked in GIS in Pittsburgh, first in City Planning, and then at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and their associated ecological field station, Powdermill. There, I started using drones and structure from motion photogrammetry to monitor landscapes in 3D at high resolution. I'm excited about continuing to move forward with developing low-cost, repeatable workflows for capturing data in the field.

I'm passionate about teaching and accessibility in geosciences. I'm currently excitedly preparing to teach Sed Strat at F&M in spring 2026. I enjoy incorporating students of all levels into research projects to learn, map, and monitor some of the phenomenal landscapes together. I also am excited about teaching in the field. While at Penn State, I was a teaching assistant for every field course offered in the Geosciences Department, including being the head TA for our 6-week field camp in 2019, 2020, and 2021. I believe in teaching modern geologic mapping in field courses, where we integrate field observations with remote sensing and GIS maps. 

Preparing for a drone survey in the Western Central Range of Taiwan | Photocredit: R. DiBiase

Teaching about glacial geomorphology at Beartooth Pass during field camp 2019. | Photocredit: C. Oborn

CONTACT

email: jcarr <at> fandm.edu
Google Scholar
twitter: @JCarrRockstar 
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