Start Here Welcome to the Course

Hello Folks,

Welcome to the second semester of the Capstone. My name is Joe Wheaton (Links to an external site.) and I am your lone instructor on this course.

I am a Professor of Riverscapes here in the Department of Watershed Sciences and I have been a fluvial geomorphologist since 2000. I have a background in civil engineering consulting (late 1990s), but my BS and MS degrees are in Hydrology and my doctorate is in Physical Geography (focused on fluvial geomorphology). I got into fluvial geomorphology as I was fascinated by rivers and watersheds, and didn't realize when I was an engineer that one could make a career out of studying rivers (and kayaking). I got into the restoration field as an undergraduate. My engineering experience in design and problem solving was a natural extension into restoration practice when I transferred to UC Davis back in 2000 and I started doing research and restoration design as an undergraduate. Over the next decade, as I learned more about the restoration field as well as rivers, I became increasingly alarmed about the gap between the scope of restoration degradation and how relatively large investments in restoration were doing so little. In short, I did a lot of projects like you did last semester, and started asking questions.

The reason this course exists is to give you direct experience as a restoration practitioner applying many of the skills you've developed over the course of your studies. We will teach you how to do a grading plan. And then I will introduce you to the topic of low-tech process-based restoration. We will focus on the restoration of riverscapes, but many of the principles apply to other flavors of ecosystem restoration. You can become part of a growing army of practitioners and professionals who want to see their efforts to improve ecosystems and foster resilient and healthy systems go further and be more effective. One of the keys to this working is in having simpler (i.e. low-tech) implementations that are more affordable (per unit cost) and can scale up to the scope of degradation more efficiently. However, the real magic is in humbly recognizing that our actions are akin to preparing a meal, and the real solution is in engaging natural processes to restore the system. We will emphasize initially mimicking, quickly promoting, and eventually sustaining natural processes.

We are so excited that you are interested in becoming part of this LTPBR movement and effort. The principles you will learn here allow you to become a leader in this field and rally others together to help improve the health and resilience of riverscapes all over the place. I encourage you to really take advantage of the opportunities in this class to further your career. I really want to see you succeed, not just in this class, but in your careers. Please read all the getting started information below, and post any questions you have to the course discussion boards.

Cheers,

Joe Wheaton (Instructor)

Joseph M. Wheaton, Ph.D.
435-554-1247 | joe.wheaton@usu.edu | joewheaton.org (Links to an external site.)
Department of Watershed Sciences
5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322

Mike Clawson (TA)

Office Hours by appointment: A01894238@usu.edu

Now, please follow the steps below to continue your orientation to this course.

Step 1: Read the course syllabus and course schedule

The course syllabus will provide you with the course schedule, course objectives, explanations of assignments and assessments, grading policies, and instructor contact information. Please read it carefully. You should have a deep familiarity with the schedule and process of the course. We will be meeting entirely by Zoom to start. We have a classroom reserved, in case we need it later. DO NOT use Zoom link at left (I can't make it go away). Instead, use this Zoom link.

Step 2: Purchase your textbooks

Your textbooks include:

Wheaton J.M., Bennett S.N., Bouwes, N., Maestas J.D. and Shahverdian S.M. (Editors). 2019. Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration of Riverscapes: Design Manual. Version 1.0 (Links to an external site.). Utah State University Restoration Consortium. Logan, UT. 286 pp. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19590.63049/2 (Links to an external site.).
Wheaton JM, Wheaton A, Maestas J, Bennett S, Bouwes N, Shahveridan S, Camp R, Jordan C, Macfarlane W, Portugal E, Weber N. 2019. Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration of Riverscapes: Pocket Field Guide. Utah State University Restoration Consortium (Links to an external site.). DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28222.13123/1 (Links to an external site.).

Both the manual (Links to an external site.) and pocket guide (Links to an external site.) are available for free download from Research Gate at above links. However, you can get a hard copy of manual for ~$60 (Links to an external site.) and waterproof hard copy of Pocket Guide here for $12 (Links to an external site.).

Step 3: Library information and student support

Visit the library website to learn what services are provided for online students.

Step 4: Read the technical requirements page

The Technical Requirements page identifies the browsers, operating systems, and plugins that work best with Canvas. If you are new to Canvas quickly review the Canvas Student Orientation materials. If you need technical assistance, you can find guides and contact information under the question mark icon in the main Canvas toolbar.

Step 5: Read about academic integrity and netiquette

All students at Utah State University agree on admission to abide by the university Honor Code. Please review this Academic Integrity tutorial to familiarize yourself with USU policies and procedures pertaining to the USU honor code. This tutorial links to an additional, in-depth review on how to avoid plagiarism and cite sources, which you are strongly encouraged to review. Also, please review the core rules of netiquette for some guidelines and expectations on how to behave in an online learning environment.

Next Steps: Begin course content