Appendix C
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
STANLEY A. SCHUMM, chair, is university Distinguished professor, in the Department of Earth Resources, at Colorado State University and a consultant at Ayres Associates. Dr. Schumm is an expert in geomorphology and fluvial dynamics. He also served 13 years as a research geologist for USGS in the Water Resources Division. He has served on numerous NRC committees, including the Committee on Remote Sensing (CORSPERS) Geology Panel—1973–77, the Committee on Disposal of Excess Spoil—1980–81, the Committee on Hydraulic Models—1981–82, and the Committee on Solid-Earth Sciences (one of the panel chairs as well)—until 1992. Dr. Schumm has a B.A. from Upsala College, and a Ph.D. in geomorphology from Columbia University.
VICTOR R. BAKER is Regents Professor and Head of the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona. He is also professor of geosciences and planetary sciences at the University of Arizona. His research interests include geomorphology; fluvial geomorphic studies in the western United States, Australia, India, Israel, and South America; flood geomorphology; paleohydrology; Quaternary geology; natural hazards; geology of Mars and Venus; and philosophy of earth and planetary sciences. He has spent time as a geophysicist for USGS and as an urban geologist. He has served on various committees and panels of the National Research Council, including the Panel on Global Surficial Geofluxes, the Global Change Committee Working Group on Solid Earth Processes, and the Panel on Scientific Responsibility and Conduct of Research. He is currently chair of the U.S. National Committee for International Union for Quaternary Research, a committee of the National Research Council's Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. Dr. Baker holds a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado.
MARGARET (PEGGY) F. BOWKER is president, owner, and principal engineer for Nimbus Engineers. An expert in surface water hydrology and hydraulics, and flood control and floodplain management for arid and semiarid climates, she has been actively involved in observing, delineating, and regulating alluvial fans for the past 14 years. She worked in floodplain management for Pima County Arizona Flood Control District in the early 1980s, and then focused on disaster assistance for FEMA. Nimbus has performed several FEMA flood insurance studies in
Nevada alluvial fan communities and has conducted a survey of communities subject to alluvial fan flood hazards for FEMA through the Association of State Flood Plain Managers. She has a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Nevada and is a licensed professional engineer in Arizona and Nevada.
JOSEPH R. DIXON is a supervisory civil engineer and section chief in the Water Resources Branch of the Planning Division for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His primary expertise is in flood control planning and the preparation of feasibility reports for Congress. He has recently worked on federal flood control studies on alluvial fans in Nevada and Arizona. He is involved with the implementation of Corps policy using a risk and uncertainty approach to evaluate the federal economic interest in participating in flood control projects. He holds a B.S. from the University of Arizona and an M.S. in civil engineering (sanitary) from California State University, Long Beach.
THOMAS DUNNE is a professor in the School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is a hydrologist and a geomorphologist, with research interests that include alluvial processes; field and theoretical studies of drainage basin and hillslope evolution; sediment transport and floodplain sedimentation; debris flows and sediment budgets of drainage basins. He served as a member of the WSTB Committee on Water Resources Research and Committee on Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1988. Dr. Dunne holds a B.A. from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in geography from the Johns Hopkins University.
DOUGLAS HAMILTON is a professional engineer and an independent hydrologic consultant with experience in a range of water resources issues including environmental impact analysis, computer modeling, and mitigation of natural hazards. He has assisted several communities with the evaluation of alluvial fan flood maps under the National Flood Insurance Program. His practice serves both public and private clients. He has worked at the Hydrologic Engineering Center, and is an instructor for University of California, Davis, Extension. He has a B.S. from Harvey Mudd College and an M.S. from the University of California, Davis.
HJALMAR W. HJALMARSON is a consulting hydrologist and registered professional civil engineer with a long interest in river hydraulics and arid land hydrology. He is retired from the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, where he conducted studies and published reports on water resources, surface water hydrology, the magnitude and frequency of floods in the southwestern United States, stochastic hydrology, and alluvial fan and riverine flooding. He has worked with the National Flood Insurance Program as a technical specialist since 1970. He also taught at the University of Arizona as an adjunct professor. He currently is studying flood characteristics of piedmont plains in central Arizona as a consultant for the Flood Control District of Maricopa County. He has a B.S. in engineering from Arizona State University.
DOROTHY MERRITTS is associate professor of geosciences at Franklin and Marshall College. Her research interests include alluvial fan processes in California, geomorphology, tectonics, hydrology, and soils. She is co-author of a textbook on environmental geosciences, with emphasis
emphasis on surficial processes and surface water hydrology. She serves on the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education (a standing NRC Commission on Life Sciences committee). She received a B.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Arizona.
