Michael Scott

was a Research Ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, Colorado for 25 years and is now a USGS Plant Ecologist, Emeritus and adjunct faculty in the Watershed Sciences Department, Utah State University.  Enduring research interests include the biology and ecology of cottonwood and other riparian trees, and how stream flow, channel change, and vegetation dynamics interact to create and sustain western riparian ecosystems.  Dr. Scott has conducted basic and applied research on dryland cottonwood ecosystems from the upper Missouri River in Montana to Sonora, Mexico. Recent work has focused on developing long-term riparian monitoring protocols for large rivers in the Colorado River basin as well as understanding riparian vegetation dynamics in the context of flow and geomorphic processes. On-going projects include: long-term riparian vegetation change using repeat photography in Grand Canyon; understanding physical and biotic components of Russian olive invasion along the Escalate River; and documenting long-term cottonwood recruitment patterns along canyon-bound rivers.