Peter Moore

Peter Lindsay Moore

Position
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor
  • Admissions Committee Chair
Department
  • Natural Resource Ecology and Management
I'm a geoscientist with a long-standing interest in how rivers and glaciers have shaped our landscape. In recent years, I've also become interested in how humans have influenced the processes of landscape change and how our management of natural resources can be informed by a better understanding of our influence on these processes. Prior to joining NREM and the Environmental Science interdepartmental graduate program, I held teaching positions at various schools including ISU, Lafayette College (PA), St. Olaf College (MN), Metropolitan State University (MN), and Grinnell College (IA).

Contact Info

642 Science 2
2310 Pammel Dr.
Ames
,
IA
50011-1031
Email
pmoore@iastate.edu
Phone
515-294-7201
Social Media and Websites

Education

  • B.A., Carleton College, 1998
  • M.S., Iowa State University, 2002
  • Ph.D., Iowa State University, 2009

More Information

Area of Expertise: Geomorphology, natural resources

Research

My research deals broadly with physical processes that shape earth's surface and the impact of environmental and human-induced changes on these processes. Most of this work involves the interactions between fluids and soil/sediment in glacial, fluvial, and hillslope settings. My research group combines field work, GIS analysis and numerical modeling to address problems ranging from the grain scale to the landscape scale, and employing concepts and methods from fields as diverse as ecology and materials science. The ultimate goal of our work is to better understand the geomorphological context within which our environmental management decisions take place and to use that understanding to guide better management.

Broader Impact

My group's research aims to provide a basis for understanding relationships between cause and effect in earth surface physical systems. As such, some of our output can be applied toward monitoring system changes that could influence management strategies. For example, some of our current work addresses spatial and temporal changes in midwestern stream channels, and their implications for watershed budgets of sediment and contaminants. Some channel changes represent a lagged response to climatic or geological changes in the distant past or land use changes in the recent past, while others may be triggered by local influences within channels or on the channel boundaries. Understanding the causes and response dynamics is essential for wise and effective management, mitigation, and restoration of stream form and function.

Key Environmental Science Publications

F.F. Williams*, P.L. Moore, T. Isenhart, and M. Tomer, 2020, Automated measurement of eroding bank volume from high-resolution aerial imagery and terrain analysis. Geomorphology, v. 367, no. 107313. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107313.

Beck, W.J.*, P.L. Moore, T. Isenhart, K. Schilling, and C. Wolter, 2019, Channel evolution effects on floodplain connectivity and sediment routing, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA, Science of the Total Environment. v. 660, p. 1015-1028. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.038.

Moore, P.L., L.I. Nelson*, and T.M.D. Groth*, 2019, Debris properties and mass balance impacts on adjacent debris-covered glaciers, Mount Rainier, USA, Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, v. 51(1) p. 70-83. doi:10.1080/15230430.2019.1582269.

Moore, P. L., 2018, Stability of supraglacial debris, Earth Surface Processes & Landforms, v. 43, p. 285-297, doi:10.1002/esp.4244.

Beck, W.J., T. Isenhart, P.L. Moore, K. Schilling, R.C. Schultz, and M. Tomer, 2018, Streambank Alluvial Unit Contributions to Suspended Sediment and Total Phosphorus Loads, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA, Water, v. 10(2), p. 111-132, doi:10.3390/w10020111.