Em Waters

Biography

Ember 'Em' Waters (they/them) joined the UCSB Geography in 2021 as a PhD student. Previously, they earned their MS in Geological Science from Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration and their BS in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Research

Waters' research focuses on the application of InSAR remote sensing to determine the effects of vertical land motion on sea-level rise related hazards in California. Em also studies the natural and anthropogenic causes of land uplift and subsidence. Currently, they are exploring the tectonic, hydrogrologic, and sedimentological drivers of coastal vertical land motion in the Humboldt Bay Area in Northern California, how the region's land motion signature will affect the barrier dunes and estuaries there, and the implications for this region's resiliency against climate change.

Publications

Blackwell, Em, et al. "Tracking California’s sinking coast from space: Implications for relative sea-level rise." Science advances 6.31 (2020): eaba4551.