
Mark Alan
Fonstad (born September 21, 1973 in Neenah, WI)
is
an
American
geographer.
He
specializes
in
the physical geography of rivers, the fusion of
physical geography with geographic information science, geomorphology,
hydrology, and remote sensing. Fonstad is an associate professor in the
Department of Geography at Texas State
University.
His
educational
training
included secondary education at Lourdes
Academy (Oshkosh, WI),
a B.S. in
Geography at the University
of Wisconsin (Madison, WI),
a
M.A.
in
Geography at Ohio
University (Athens, OH),
and,
in
2000,
a Ph.D. in Geography from Arizona
State University (Tempe, AZ).
He
is
the
son of geographer Todd Fonstad
and cartographer Karen Wynn
Fonstad.
Some of Fonstad’s accomplishments include the HAB Transform
for converting images of rivers into maps of water depth, the SATS
treeline ecotone model, a cellular automata model of instream
hydrodynamics (with Jay Parsons), and the Critical Riverbank
Conjecture, for which he received (with W. Andrew Marcus) the 2005 G.K.
Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphic Research. His more
recent work has focused on the high-resolution remote sensing of river
habitats, modeling of river dynamics and ecotones, and work on the
upcoming NASA SWOT satellite mission. He also co-organized the 2007
Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium on the subject of Complexity
in
Geomorphology, and the 2008 European Geosciences Union and the 2009
and 2010 American Geophysical Union special
sessions on the Remote
Sensing of Rivers.
Beginning in January 2010, Mark has been the Environmental Science
Editor of the
Annals
of
the
Association of American Geographers.
(Hopefully) Useful Documents:
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Why I am a Geographer
Fifteen Pillars Towards
Becoming a Successful Geography Graduate Student
Tips on Giving a Short Geography
Presentation
The Active Lecture
Current Teaching Activities:
Fall 2010: GEO 7313 Environmental Systems Analysis
Current Research Projects:
The
Remote Sensing
of Rivers - Current projects are centered around the
Texas Hill
Country,
Yellowstone
National
Park, St. Margaurite River in Quebec, and the
Willamette Valley
of
Oregon. We are looking for tools, methods, and applications to
inventory river habitats from remote platforms including satellites,
airplanes, blimps, and poles. Imaging systems
range from ordinary digital cameras to imaging
spectrometers. The observations are being used to
test classical river theories and identify key habitats.
Dynamics of
Mountain Streams - Current projects are centered around
Yellowstone
National
Park and the
Oregon Coast
Range. We are analyzing
the spatial and temporal patterns by which mountain streams expend
their energy, move sediment and wood, and create unstable geomorphic
zones. As these patterns grow, change, and diminish, they produce
physical habitate templates for aquatic organisms, another aspect of
our observations and simulations.
Ecotone
Dynamics - Current projects are centered around
Glacier
National
Park and the
Rwenzori
Mountains in Uganda. We are looking at how
mountain ecotones (transitions from one ecosystem to another) react to
climate change and other factors, and the sensitivity of ecotones to
various internal and external processes. This research combines
fieldwork, remote sensing, and numerical simulations such as the SATS
treeline ecotone model..
The Beaded
Stream - Currently, the project is centered on the
Alaska North
Slope. I am beginning to study this unusual stream pattern, formed
where fluvial processes mix with thermokarst processes in areas of
continuous permafrost. These streams slow down meltwater floods and
alter arctic stream
ecosystems, and they are likely to be very sensitive to climate change
in the United States, Canada, and Russia. This research combines
fieldwork, remote sensing, and numerical simulations.
NASA's
SWOT: Surface
Water
Ocean
Topography - Currently my work is focused on
the SWOT surface hydrology group. The satellite under design by NASA
and CNES will be a polar-orbiting interferometric radar that will map
the existence, elevation, and slope of surface water around the world
at the resolution of tens of meters. The mission group and the
hydrology subgroup are tasked with taking data that SWOT will
(hopefully!) produce and extract hydrologically meaningful information,
such as
river discharge, floodwave extents and speeds, water volumes, and
geomorphically meaningful hydraulics measures.
Contact Information:
E-mail:
mfonstad@txstate.edu
Phone
(with voice mail): 512-245-7809
Department:
office phone: 512-245-2170
office fax: 512-245-8353
Mailing address:
Department of Geography
Texas State University
601
University Drive
San
Marcos, TX 78666 USA
Street address:
Department office: Room 139 Evans
Liberal Arts
My office: Room 383 Evans Liberal Arts
The page last updated July
31, 2010
Department of Geography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666
Texas State
University Personal Web Page Disclaimer:
http://www.txstate.edu/disclaimer