Christopher Magirl
Chris Magirl is a Bureau Approving Official (BAO) in the USGS Office of Science Quality and Integrity, reviewing interpretive science products (that is, written reports, journal articles, book chapters, and other pieces for public release) on behalf of the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure quality and consistency with USGS Fundamental Science Practices.
From 2015–2020, Chris was the Associate Director for Investigations at the USGS Arizona Water Science Center, disseminating high-quality hydrologic data and scientific reports on water resources in Arizona and the Southwest. Chris worked closely with cooperating state, local, and federal agencies, tribes, and academic researchers. From 2000–2015, Chris was a hydrologist, research hydrologist, and project chief at the USGS, working on multiple projects involving fluvial geomorphology throughout the western United States. Chris researched rapids on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon and Cataract Canyon, the Elwha River dam-removal project, sediment production from Mount Rainier and other glaciated stratovolcanoes, and the interactions between geomorphology and aquatic ecology pertaining to salmon. Chris was closely involved with the USGS response to the March 22, 2014, Oso Landslide of Washington State.
Before joining the USGS, Chris was an engineer and R&D project manager with the Hewlett-Packard Company building color inkjet printers. As a youth, Chris was fascinated with fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, thunderstorms, flash floods, airplanes, rockets, and rivers. For over 25 years, Chris has been fortunate to enjoy fluid mechanics and thermodynamics in his professional research and engineering career. Chris is the inventor of 5 patents and has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers and reports on topics ranging from directional solidification, microscopic droplet ejection, landslides, debris flows, extreme rainfall events, extreme floods, to the hydraulics of rapids—it’s all fluid mechanics, just different scales and viscosities.
Professional Experience
US Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ, Studies Chief, 2015–present
US Geological Survey, Tacoma, WA, Research Hydrologist, 2008–2015
US Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ, Hydrologist, 2000–2008
Tetra Tech, Inc, Tucson, AZ, Hydrologist, 2000
Hewlett-Packard Company, San Diego, CA, Project Manager and Engineer, 1992–1999
Education and Certifications
The University of Arizona, PhD, Hydrology (minor in geology) 2006
Purdue University, MS, Mechanical Engineering, 1992
The University of Arizona, BS, Aerospace Engineering, 1990
Science and Products
Effect of a levee setback on aquatic resources using two-dimensional flow and bioenergetics models
Preliminary assessment of aggradation potential in the North Fork Stillaguamish River downstream of the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
Hydroclimatic conditions preceding the March 2014 Oso landslide
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: river channel and floodplain geomorphic change
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: fluvial sediment load
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited in the two former reservoirs, allowing a comp
Landslide mobility and hazards: implications of the 2014 Oso disaster
Transport and deposition of asbestos-rich sediment in the Sumas River, Whatcom County, Washington
The timing of scour and fill in a gravel-bedded river measured with buried accelerometers
Geomorphic analysis of the river response to sedimentation downstream of Mount Rainier, Washington
Geomorphic and hydrologic study of peak-flow management on the Cedar River, Washington
Geomorphic response to flow regulation and channel and floodplain alteration in the gravel-bedded Cedar River, Washington, USA
Science and Products
Effect of a levee setback on aquatic resources using two-dimensional flow and bioenergetics models
Preliminary assessment of aggradation potential in the North Fork Stillaguamish River downstream of the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
Hydroclimatic conditions preceding the March 2014 Oso landslide
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: river channel and floodplain geomorphic change
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: fluvial sediment load
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited in the two former reservoirs, allowing a comp