Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental SciencesCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder

Matthew Rossi

(He/Him)

Research Scientist

Education

B.S., The College of William & Mary, 2003
Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2014

matthew.rossi@colorado.edu

Research Interests

Matthew Rossi is a Research Scientist in Earth Lab. Trained as a geomorphologist, his research is motivated by developing a quantitative understanding of the processes and process interactions that control the shape of Earth’s surface. His core research activities focus on how feedbacks among climate, tectonics, ecology, and hydrology drive rates of soil production, sediment transport, and river incision. To address these questions, his research heavily relies on field methods, geochronology, remote sensing, and landscape evolution modeling. His broader interest in Earth's Critical Zone has increasingly led him to collaborate on new inter-disciplinary projects on topics like natural hazards, agricultural productivity, and biodiversity change.

Current Research

Building better models of river incision that account for orographic gradients in stochastic runoff generation
Feedbacks among forest dynamics, soil production, and sediment transport in rocky landscapes (Colorado, USA)
Relating the long-term pace and pattern of escarpment retreat to event-scale rainstorm properties (Utah, USA; Negev Desert, Israel)
Integrating Agent-Based Models of biota (e.g., burrowing organisms, individual plants) into landscape evolution models
Building dose-response functions from historic climate data to explain spatio-temporal patterns water supply, crop yields, and flood frequency (contiguous USA)
Measuring biodiversity change using eDNA and remote sensing across scales (Cape Floristic Region, South Africa)

Research Categories

Climate and Weather, Solid Earth, Water Resources

Research Images

Bedrock river in Sierra Nombre de Dios, Honduras

One site from my dissertation research quantifying hydro-climatic controls on erosion rates. Specifically, the focus of this research was to constrain relationships between the steepness of bedrock rivers and associated cosmogenic erosion rates.

Rocky hillslope along the Rampart Range, Colorado, USA

My work in the Colorado Front Range focuses on feedbacks among forest dynamics, soil production, sediment transport, and runoff generation. Abundant bedrock outcrops emerge due to recent base level fall and aspect-dependent soil production rates.

Escarpment retreat in the Negev Desert, Israel

Working with collaborators from the US and Israel, we are tackling the challenge of understanding how event-scale rainstorm properties influence the frequency and form of diagnostic features, like talus flatirons, during escarpment retreat.

Fynbos of the Groot Drakenstein Mountains, South Africa

Working with collaborators from the US and South Africa, we are mapping biodiversity across scales using environmental DNA, field surveys, and airborne remote sensing. This is part of a broader NASA mission called BioSCape.

ORC ID

0000-0003-1846-5191

Google Scholar

RJFCPUQAAAAJ

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