Paxton Ridgway
Curriculum Vitae
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management – UC Santa Barbara
1001 Bren Hall, UC Santa Barbara, CA 93106
e: pridgway@bren.ucsb.edu
EDUCATION
2025 - Present Ph.D. - Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara, CA.
2023 - 2025 MBA - Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University, Logan, UT.
Program: Executive Leadership and Innovation
2022 - 2024 M.Sc. - Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University,
Logan, UT.
Program: River Mechanics and Modeling
Research Group: Post-Wildfire Hydrology
2013 - 2017 B.Sc. - Environmental Studies- UC Santa Barbara, CA.
Concentration: Hydrologic Sciences
RESEARCH
My research interests revolve around the drivers and management decisions affecting the changing sediment dynamics of watersheds and rivers from multiple perspectives. These include shifting hydrologic regimes caused by wildfires, climate change effects on snowmelt, dams, dam removals, and their impacts on water users and ecosystems.
Provisional Ph.D. Dissertation Title: Drivers and Management of Changing Sediment Regimes in California’s Rivers.
M.Sc. Thesis: Channel Dynamics in Response to Compounding Hydrogeomorphic Disturbances in a Steep Burned Watershed: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd2023/355
· NSF-Funded interdisciplinary research investigating widespread post-wildfire debris flow triggering events and subsequent drivers of downstream sediment mobilization in a recently burned watershed within the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA.
· High-resolution DEM spatial analysis of overlapping pre-fire and post-fire LiDAR datasets for monitoring debris flow source catchments and deposits.
· Multi-year intensive field survey documentation of sediment transport and channel geometry change within a tributary network.
· Collaboration with USGS Landslides Hazards Group, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)
PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
Ridgway, P., Lane, B., Canham, H., Murphy, B., Belmont, P., Rengers, F.K., 2024. Wildfire, extreme precipitation, and debris flows, oh my! River corridor response to compounding disturbances in a steep mountain stream in the Upper Colorado Basin, USA. Earth Surface Process and Landforms. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5942
Rengers, F. K., Bower, S., Knapp, A., Kean, J. W., vonLembke, D. W., Thomas, M. A., Kostelnik, J., Barnhart, K. R., Bethel, M., Gartner, J. E., Hille, M., Staley, D. M., Anderson, J. K., Roberts, E. K., DeLong, S. B., Lane, B., Ridgway, P., and Murphy, B. P.: Evaluating post-wildfire debris-flow rainfall thresholds and volume models at the 2020 Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, USA, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2093–2114, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2093-2024, 2024.
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND ARTICLES
Ridgway P., Lane B., 2024. “Channel Dynamics in Response to Compounding Hydrogeomorphic Disturbance in a Steep Burned Watershed.” After the Flames (ATF) Conference -- Impacts on Watershed Hydrology, Biogeochemistry, and Biodiversity, Estes Park, Colorado. April 2024.
Ridgway P., Lane B., 2024. “Channel Dynamics in Response to Compounding Hydrogeomorphic Disturbance in a Steep Burned Watershed.” Establishing Directions in Post-Fire Debris Flow Science Conference. South Lake Tahoe, California. May, 2024.
New USU Study Highlights Channel Response in Upper Colorado Basin: https://www.usu.edu/today/story/new-usu-study-highlights-channel-response-in-upper-colorado-basin
MERIT AWARDS
2025 - Bren School, UC Santa Barbara: UC Regents Fellowship
2025 - Lakhan-Pal Fellowship
SCHOLARLY PROFILES
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paxton-Ridgway?ev=hdr_xprf
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ulYOsEUAAAAJ&hl=en
Personal Portfolio: https://sites.google.com/view/paxtonridgway/home
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018 - 2022 Balance Hydrologics, Berkeley CA. Staff Hydrologist
· Fluvial restoration design and construction for engineering oversight,
implementation, and monitoring services.
· Hydraulic and hydrologic modeling to analyze flood event inundation and
sediment transport.
· Collection of streamflow data, installation and maintenance of hydrologic
monitoring equipment.
2015 - 2018 City of Santa Barbara Public Works, Water Resources Engineering Technician
· Construction management and oversight of water, wastewater, and desalination
capital improvement projects.
· In-field research for infrastructure replacement, sequencing, and budget planning
using GIS software.
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
· American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) Construction Engineering Certification
· Wilderness First Aid (WFA) / CPR
· Stormwater Pollution and Prevention Plan (SWPPP) management and implementation
SKILLS AND SOFTWARES
· Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling: HEC-RAS (1D, 2D), HEC-HMS, FLOW-3D HYDRO
· Python, programming languages applied to hydrologic and environmental data
Exploration and manipulation
· GIS software including ArcPro, QGIS, and CAD (AutoCAD C3D)
· Field Surveying including Total Station, RTK, Auto Levels
· Field-team Lead, Safety coordination and public outreach