Research @ waterSHED Lab
Explore some of our ongoing and recently finished projects below
Really big landslides and hazards cascades
Massive rock avalanches are becoming increasingly frequent due to glacier debuttressing of oversteppened valley walls, and thaw of alpine permafrost. In other words, they are becoming more common as a result of climate change. Sometimes these can trigger a domino effect of secondary or tertiary geohazards, such as damming a river, which impounds a hazardous lake, or triggering a tsunami.
Publications
Sattar et al. 2025. The Sikkim flood of October 2023: drivers, causes, and impacts of a multi-hazard cascade. Science, 387:6740. doi: 10.1126/science.ads2659
Dunham et al. 2024. The influence of ground shaking on the distribution and size of coseismic landslides from the Mw 7.6 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Seismica. 3(2).
Byers et al. 2024. Brief Communications: An ice-debris avalanche in the Nupchu Valley, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, Eastern Nepal. The Cryosphere, 18(2): 711-717.
Nouri et al. 2023. Submarine landslide tsunami hazard assessment for the Western Makran based on a deterministic approach. Natural Hazards, 118:1117-1136.
Smith et al. 2023. Revising rock avalanche magnitudes and frequencies in glacial environments. Geomorphology. 425: 108591.
Westoby et al. 2023. Rapid fluvial remobilization of sediment deposited by the Chamoli disaster mass movement process chain. Geology, 51(10):924-928.
Dunham et al. 2022. Topographic control of ground motions and landslides from the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Geophysical Research Letters, 49, e2022GL098582.
Geertsema et al. 2022. The 28 November 2020 Landslide, Tsunami, and Outburst Flood – A Hazard Cascade Associated With Rapid Deglaciation at Elliot Creek, British Columbia, Canada. Geophysical Research Letters, 49: e2021GL096716
Van Wyk de Vries et al. Accepted. Pre-collapse motion of the February 2021 Chamoli rock-ice avalanche, Indian Himalaya. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, 22, 3309-3327
Shugar et al. 2021. A massive rock-ice avalanche caused the 2021 hazard cascade at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya. Science, 373:300-306.
Bloom et al. 2020. Catastrophic landscape modification from a massive landslide tsunami in Taan Fiord, Alaska. Geomorphology 353, 107029.
Brideau et al. 2019. Evolution of the 2014 Vulcan Creek landslide-dammed lake, Yukon, Canada, using field and remote survey techniques. Landslides 16 (10), 1823-1840
Byers et al. 2019. A rockfall-induced glacial lake outburst flood, Upper Barun Valley, Nepal. Landslides 16 (3), 533-549
Kirschbaum et al. 2019. The State of Remote Sensing Capabilities of Cascading Hazards Over High Mountain Asia. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 197
Higman et al. 2018. The 2015 landslide and tsunami in Taan Fiord, Alaska. Scientific Reports 8 (1), 12993
Dufresne et al. 2018. Sedimentology and geomorphology of a large tsunamigenic landslide, Taan Fiord, Alaska. Sedimentary Geology 364, 302-318
Haeussler et al. 2018. Submarine Deposition of a Subaerial Landslide in Taan Fiord, Alaska. J Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 123 (10), 2443-2463
Kargel et al. 2016. Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Science 351 (6269), aac8353
Deline et al. 2014. Rock avalanches onto glaciers. In: Landslide Hazards Risks and Disasters, 263–319, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Shugar et al. 2013. A quantitative assessment of the sedimentology and geomorphology of rock avalanche deposits. Landslide Science and Practice, 321-326.
Shugar et al. 2012. The response of Black Rapids Glacier, Alaska, to the Denali earthquake rock avalanches. J Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 117 (F1)
Shugar & Clague. 2011. The sedimentology and geomorphology of rock avalanche deposits on glaciers. Sedimentology 58 (7), 1762-1783
Glacial lake evolution
We are working to understand how glacier lakes are evolving in space and time. These often ephemeral lakes present acute hazards to populations and infrastructure downstream.
Publications
Sattar et al. 2025. The Sikkim flood of October 2023: drivers, causes, and impacts of a multi-hazard cascade. Science, 387:6740. doi: 10.1126/science.ads2659
Wood et al. 2024. Shaking up assumptions: Earthquakes generally do not trigger Glacier Lake Outburst Floods. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(7): e2023GL105578.
Zhang et al. 2024. Characteristics and changes of glacial lakes and outburst floods. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 5: 447-462.
Agarwal et al. 2023. Long-term analysis of glaciers and glacier lakes in the central and eastern Himalaya. Science of the Total Environment, 898: 165598.
Lesi et al. 2022. Landsat and Sentinel-derived glacial lake dataset in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from 1990 to 2020. Earth System Science Data. 14: 5489-5512.
Geertsema et al. 2022. The 28 November 2020 Landslide, Tsunami, and Outburst Flood – A Hazard Cascade Associated With Rapid Deglaciation at Elliot Creek, British Columbia, Canada. Geophysical Research Letters, 49: e2021GL096716.
Li et al. 2022. Climate-driven landscape instability threatens hydropower dams and reservoirs in High Mountain Asia. Nature Geoscience.
Sattar et al. 2021. Lake outburst process chain modeling and downstream hazard assessment. J. Hydrol., 598, 126208.
Shugar et al. 2020. Rapid worldwide growth of glacial lakes since 1990. Nature Climate Change 10, 939-945.
Watson et al. 2020. Mass loss from calving in Himalayan proglacial lakes. Frontiers in Earth Sciences 7, 342.
Byers et al. 2018. A rockfall-induced glacial lake outburst flood, Upper Barun Valley, Nepal. Landslides 16 (3), 533-549
Schiassi et al. 2019. GLAM Bio-Lith RT: A tool for remote sensing reflectance simulation and water components concentration retrieval in glacial lakes. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 267
Kirschbaum et al. 2019. The State of Remote Sensing Capabilities of Cascading Hazards Over High Mountain Asia. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 197
Shugar et al. 2018. Late Holocene activity of Sherman and Sheridan glaciers, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 194, 116-127
Haritashya et al. 2018. Evolution and controls of large glacial lakes in the Nepal Himalaya. Remote Sensing 10 (5), 798
Harrison et al. 2018. Climate change and the global pattern of moraine-dammed glacial lake outburst floods. The Cryosphere 12
Kargel et al. 2016. Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Science 351 (6269), aac8353
Capps et al. 2010. Identification and characterization of alpine subglacial lakes using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR): Brady Glacier, Alaska, USA. J Glaciology 56 (199), 861-870
Quaternary environmental change
The landscapes of western North America have undergone substantial change over the late Quaternary, including marked variations to relative sea levels, glacier extent, etc. We use a combination of field mapping, remote sensing, and archival research to unravel the landscape changes over the past ~20,000 years.
Publications
Fathian et al. 2026. Onshore-offshore evidence for active tectonics and the propagation of the Zagros deformation front into the Persian Gulf. Quaternary Science Reviews. 375: 109752.
Harrison et al. 2025. Landscape responses will reduce glacier sensitivity to climate change in High Mountain Asia. The Cryosphere (invited perspective article). 19: 4113-4124.
Clague & Shugar. 2023. Impacts of loss of cryosphere in the high mountains of Northwest North America. Quaternary. 6:1.
Eamer et al. 2018. Late Quaternary landscape evolution in a region of stable postglacial relative sea levels, British Columbia central coast, Canada. Boreas 47 (3), 738-753
Harrison et al. 2018. Climate change and the global pattern of moraine-dammed glacial lake outburst floods. The Cryosphere 12
Shugar et al. 2018. Late Holocene activity of Sherman and Sheridan glaciers, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 194, 116-127
Shugar et al. 2017. ‘Boundary’: mapping and visualizing climatically changed landscapes at Kaskawulsh Glacier and Kluane Lake, Yukon. J Maps, 1-12
Shugar et al. 2017. River piracy and drainage basin reorganization led by climate-driven glacier retreat. Nature Geoscience 10 (5), 370
Eamer et al. 2017. A glacial readvance during retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, British Columbia central coast. Quaternary Research 87 (3), 468-481
Neudorf et al. 2015. Toward a luminescence chronology for coastal dune and beach deposits on Calvert Island, British Columbia central coast, Canada. Quaternary Geochronology 30, 275-281
Shugar et al. 2014. Post-glacial sea-level change along the Pacific coast of North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 97, 170-192
McLaren et al. 2014. A post-glacial sea level hinge on the central Pacific coast of Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 97, 148-169
Shugar et al. 2010. Elevation changes (1949–1995) of Black Rapids Glacier, Alaska, derived from a multi-baseline InSAR DEM and historical maps. J Glaciology 56 (198), 625-634
NASA Earth Observatory
Other research
I have conducted research on a variety of other topics, including process fluvial and aeolian sediment transport, ground ice in permafrost, and medicine cabinet contents.
Publications
Das et al. 2025. Mapping glacierized regions with quad-pol dual frequency LS-ASAR: insights for the NISAR mission. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 18: 26,338-26,354.
Bailey et al. 2025. Land-to-sea sediment fluxes from a major Glacial Lake Outburst Flood were stepped rather than instantaneous. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. 130
Cooke et al. 2023. Consequences of “natural” disasters on aquatic life and habitats. Environmental Reviews. 31:122-140.
Byers et al. 2022. Three recent and lesser-known glacier-related flood mechanisms in high mountain environments. Mountain Research and Development, 42(2):A12-22.
Fathian et al. 2022. Source characteristics of the Fin doublet earthquake of 14 November 2021 (Mw 6.2 and Mw 6.3) utilizing InSAR. IEEE IGARSS. 4pp.
Emmer, A., Cook, S.J., Frey, H., and Shugar, D.H. 2021. Editorial: Geohazards and risks in high mountain regions. Frontiers Earth Sci., 9.
Kargel, Upadhyay, Maxwell, Ramos, Harrison, Shugar, and Haritashya 2021. Climate change, land use change, and mountain disasters. Georgetown J. of Intl. Affairs.
Shugar, Kane. 2019. An adventure in predatory publishing: the contents of two medicine cabinets. Nature 568:316
Eamer*, Shugar, Walker, Lian, Neudorf. 2017. Distinguishing depositional setting for sandy deposits in coastal landscapes using grain shape. J Sedimentary Research 87 (1), 1-11
Phillips, Burn, Wolfe, Morse, Gaanderse, O’Neill, Shugar, Gruber. 2015. Improving water content description of ice-rich permafrost soils. Proceedings GeoQuébec 68
Shugar. 2014. Bathymetric and geophysical surveys of the southern end of Kluane Lake, Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2013, MacFarlane, Nordling, Sack (eds.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 221-231.
Walker, Shugar. 2013. Secondary flow deflection in the lee of transverse dunes with implications for dune morphodynamics and migration. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 38 (14), 1642-1654
Shugar, Kostaschuk, Best, Parsons, Lane, Orfeo, ...2010. On the relationship between flow and suspended sediment transport over the crest of a sand dune, Río Paraná, Argentina. Sedimentology 57 (1), 252-272
Kostaschuk, Shugar, Best, Parsons, Lane, Hardy, Orfeo. 2009. Suspended sediment transport and deposition over a dune: Río Paraná, Argentina. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 34 (12), 1605-1611
Kostaschuk, Shugar, Best, Parsons, Lane, Hardy, ...2008. Suspended sediment transport over a dune. Marine Sand-wave and River Dune Dynamics III. University of Leeds, UK, 197-201
Shugar, Kostaschuk, Ashmore, Desloges, Burge. 2007. In situ jet-testing of the erosional resistance of cohesive streambeds. Canadian J Civil Engineering 34 (9), 1192-1195
Parsons, Best, Lane, Hardy, Kostaschuk, Shugar, ...2006. Morphology, flow and sediment transport over a natural 3D dune field: Rio Parana, Argentina. River Flow 2006, vols. 1 and 2, 997-1004
Interested in finding out more?
Find information about the team and our facilities below