Teaching

Courses at SFU

GEOG 118 The Water Planet

An overview of the processes that control water supply to natural ecosystems and human civilization. Hydrologic cycle, floods, droughts, groundwater. Patterns of water use, threats to water quality, effects of global climate change on future water supplies. Water issues facing British Columbia. Breadth-Science.
Typically offered in fall terms. Course outline

GEOG 311 Hydrology

Introduction to the hydrologic cycle, with an emphasis on the hydrology of British Columbia.
Typically offered every fall term. Course outline

GEOG 418/658 Ecohydrology/Advanced Ecohydrology

Interdisciplinary exploration of the interactions between plants and hydrologic processes, with an emphasis on primary literature.
Typically offered every spring term. Course outline

GEOG 606 Research Design and Analytical Techniques in Physical Geography

Research design, data collection and quantitative methods in physical geography.
Typically offered in fall terms. Course outline

Elder Creek

People

Contact Jesse to learn about opportunities (whahm (at) sfu.ca.

W. Jesse Hahm

Assistant Professor (January, 2020 - present), Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University

Academic Background

Postdoctoral Scholar, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas-Austin
PhD, Earth and Planetary Science, University of California-Berkeley
MSc, Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming
BA, McGill University

Brandon Drucker

Brandon is a MSc student in the SFU Department of Geography.

Robert Ehlert

Robert is a MSc student in the SFU Department of Geography.

Maya Montalvo

Maya is a PhD student in the SFU Department of Geography.

Lab alumni

Mantek Aulakh Singh (USRA scholar)

Berit Hudson Rasmussen (Visiting Mitacs Globalink Fellow)

Dana Lapides (Postdoc)

Christine Leclerc (USRA scholar)

Sijin Chen (Honours thesis)

Publications

Google Scholar Profile

  • Mapping Surface Water Presence and Hyporheic Flow Properties of Headwater Stream Networks With Multispectral Satellite Imagery.
    Dralle, D.N, Lapides, D.A., Rempe, D.M., Hahm, W.J. Water Resources Research, 2023.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Inferring Hillslope Groundwater Recharge Ratios From the Storage-Discharge Relation.
    Dralle, D.N, Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D.M., Geophysical Research Letters, 2023.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Mapping Variations in Bedrock Weathering With Slope Aspect Under a Sedimentary Ridge-Valley System Using Near-Surface Geophysics and Drilling.
    Hudson Rasmussen, B, Huang, M.H., Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D.M., Dralle, D.N., Nelson M.D. JGR-Earth Surface, 2023.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • The salmonid and the subsurface: Hillslope storage capacity determines the quality and distribution of fish habitat.
    Dralle, D.N, Rossi, G., Georgakakos, P. Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D.M., Blanchard, M., Power, M.E., Dietrich, W.E., Carlson, S. M. Ecosphere, 2023.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Causes of Missing Snowmelt Following Drought.
    Lapides, D.A., Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D.M., Whiting, J.A., Dralle, D.N. Geophysical Research Letters, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • The Age of Evapotranspiration: Lower-Bound Constraints From Distributed Water Fluxes Across the Continental United States .
    Hahm, W.J., Lapides, D.A., Rempe, D.M., McCormick, E.L., Dralle, D.N. Water Resources Research, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Forest vulnerability to drought controlled by bedrock composition.
    Callahan, R.P., Riebe, C.S., Sklar, L.S., Pasquet, S., Ferrier, K.L., Hahm, W.J., Taylor, N.J., Grana, D., Flinchum, B.A., Hayes, J.L., Holbrook, W.S. Nature Geoscience, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Bedrock vadose zone storage dynamics under extreme drought: consequences for plant water availability, recharge, and runoff.
    Hahm, W.J., Dralle, D.N., Sanders, M., Bryk, A.B., Fauria, K.E., Huang, M-H, Hudson-Rasmussen, B., Nelson, M.D., Pedrazas, M.A., Schmidt, L., Whiting, J., Dietrich, W.E., Rempe., D.M. Water Resources Research, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Controls on streamwater age in a saturation overland flow-dominated catchment.
    Lapides, D.A., Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D., Dietrich, W.E., Dralle, D.N. Water Resources Research, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Multicriteria analysis on rock moisture and streamflow in a rainfall-runoff model improves accuracy of model results.
    La Follette. P, Hahm, W.J., Rempe, D.M., Dietrich, W.E., Brauer, C.C., Weerts, A.H., Dralle, D.N. Hydrological Processes, 2022.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Evidence for widespread woody plant use of water stored in bedrock.
    E. McCormick, DN Dralle, Hahm, W.J., A. Tune, L. Schmidt, K.D. Chadwick, D.M. Rempe. Nature, 2021.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Accounting for snow in the estimation of root-zone water storage capacity from precipitation and evapotranspiration fluxes.
    DN Dralle, WJ Hahm, KD Chadwick, E McCormick, DM Rempe. Hydrology and Earth System Science, 2021.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • The relationship between topography, bedrock weathering, and water storage across a sequence of ridges and valleys.
    MA Pedrazas, WJ Hahm, MH Huang, DN Dralle, MD Nelson, R Breunig, K Fauria, AB Bryk, WE Dietrich, DM Rempe. Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. 2021
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Variability of headwater stream network extents controlled by flow regime and network hydraulic scaling.
    DA Lapides, CD Leclerc, H Moidu, DN Dralle, WJ Hahm. Hydrological Processes. 2021
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Oak transpiration drawn from the weathered bedrock vadose zone in the summer dry season.
    WJ Hahm, DM Rempe, DN Dralle, TE Dawson, WE Dietrich. Water Resources Research. 2020
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Plants as sensors: vegetation response to rainfall predicts root-zone water storage capacity in Mediterranean-type climates.
    DN Dralle, WJ Hahm, DM Rempe, NJ Karst, LDL Anderegg, SE Thompson, TE Dawson, WE Dietrich. Environmental Research Letters. 2020.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Digging deeper: what the critical zone perspective adds to the study of plant ecophysiology.
    TE Dawson, WJ Hahm, K Crutchfield-Peters. New Phytologist. 2020.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Low subsurface water storage capacity relative to annual rainfall decouples Mediterranean plant productivity and water use from rainfall variability.
    WJ Hahm, DN Dralle, DR Rempe, AB Bryk, SE Thompson, TE Dawson, WE Dietrich. Geophysical Research Letters, 2019.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Lithologically controlled subsurface critical zone thickness and water storage capacity determine regional plant community composition.
    WJ Hahm, DR Rempe, DN Dralle, TE Dawson, SM Lovill, AB Bryk, D Bish, J Schieber, WE Dietrich. Water Resources Research, 2019.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Arrested development: Erosional equilibrium in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, maintained by feedbacks between channel incision and hillslope sediment production.
    RP Callahan, KL Ferrier, JC Dixon, A Dosseto, WJ Hahm, BS Jessup, SN Miller, C Hunsaker, D Johnson, LS Sklar, & CS Riebe, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2019.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Controls on the distribution and resilience of Quercus garryana: ecophysiological evidence of oak’s water-limitation tolerance.
    WJ Hahm, WE Dietrich, TE Dawson. Ecosphere, 2018.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Drainage from the critical zone: lithologic controls on the persistence and spatial extent of wetted channels during the summer dry season.
    SM Lovill, WJ Hahm, WE Dietrich. Water Resources Research, 2018.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Quantification of the seasonal hillslope water storage that does not drive streamflow.
    DN Dralle, WJ Hahm, DM Rempe, NJ Karst, SE Thompson, WE Dietrich. Hydrological Processes, 2018.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Controls on deep critical zone architecture: A historical review and four testable hypotheses.
    CS Riebe, WJ Hahm, SL Brantley. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2016.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Testing for supply-limited and kinetic-limited chemical erosion in field measurements of regolith production and chemical depletion.
    KL Ferrier, CS Riebe, WJ Hahm. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2016.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Bedrock composition regulates mountain ecosystems and landscape evolution.
    WJ Hahm, CS Riebe, CE Lukens, S Araki. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
    See also: Coevolution of life and landscapes (Commentary). (pdf), (journal website - external link) S Porder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014.
  • Landscape response to tipping points in granite weathering: The case of stepped topography in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory.
    BS Jessup, WJ Hahm, SN Miller, JW Kirchner, CS Riebe. Applied Geochemistry Supplement, 2011.
    (journal website - external link), (pdf).
  • Critical Zone Ecohydrology of the Northern California Coast Ranges (PhD Dissertation).
    WJ Hahm, 2019.
    (eScholarship website - external link), (pdf).
Rancho Venada

Outreach and Press

  • Vancouver Sun: After a summer of near-record drought across B.C., flood risk will follow. (external link), 2023
  • New York Times: Dana Lapides discusses the fate of California's Record Snowpack in relation to insights from recent study in Geophysical Research Letters (external link), 2023
  • SFU: International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2023 (external link), 2023
  • SFU: Cracking the case of missing snowmelt after drought (external link), 2023
  • Newsweek: California Reservoir Levels Before and After Rain Seen From Space (external link), 2023
  • The Conversation: Scientists dig deep and find a way to accurately predict snowmelt after droughts (external link), 2023
  • USFS: Beneath the Surface: The Hydrology of Hidden Forests Systems (external link), 2022
  • Nature Geoscience: The bedrock of forest drought (external link), 2022
  • AGU Ecohydrology 'Meet-a-Leaf' Blog (external link), 2022
  • Science & Vie: Les arbres boivent de l'eau dans les roches (external link), 2021
  • Scientific American: Trees drill into deep bedrock for water surprisingly often (external link), 2021
  • EOS News: Thirsty Plants Pull Water from Bedrock (external link), 2021
  • SFU News: Could the Water in Bedrock Save our Forest Ecosystems from Climate Change? (external link), 2021; UT News: Water in Bedrock is Sustaining Trees Across Country (external link)
  • UT News: Research Inside Hill Slopes Could Help Wildfire and Drought Prediction. (external link), 2021
  • EOS Science Update: How Some Trees Survive the Summer Dry Season. (external link), 2020
  • SFU Research News: Will bedrock save our coastal ecosystems from climate change? (external link), 2020
  • EOS Science Update: Linking Critical Zone Water Storage and Ecosystems. (external link), 2020
  • Ringing in the Hydrological New Year: Interview on Mediterranean Ecohydrology and Eel River CZO discoveries and resolutions with David Dralle, Mary Ann Madej, Tim Bailey, and Chip Tittman. KMUD's Institute for Sustainable Forestry Hour - Redwood Community Radio) (~60 minute MP3 recording), 2019
  • UC Berkeley Press Release: Does limited underground water storage make plants less susceptible to drought? (external link), 2019
  • EOS Research Spotlight: Answer to California Landscape Riddle Lies Underground. (external link), 2019
  • Cyanobacteria: ancient life in the Eel River Ecosystem (Link to video stream on Vimeo), 2019
  • Oregon White Oak's future and bedrock-plant-stream interactions in the Northern California Coast Ranges (Interview with KMUD's Monday Morning Magazine - Redwood Community Radio) (~20 minute MP3 recording), 2018
  • Studying the Eel River Watershed (Video for interactive exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science) (external link - Youtube), 2017
  • Complex Research Program Moving Ahead at Livermore Woman’s Ranch. (external link) Livermore Independent, 2016. (pdf)
  • National Study Taking Place At Livermore Woman’s Ranch. (external link) Livermore Independent, 2015. (pdf)
  • Sierra Nevada bedrock shapes vegetation and topography. (pdf) Oleson, T, Earth Magazine, 2014.
  • UW Study: Bedrock Influences Forests More Than Previously Believed. (external link) University of Wyoming Press Release, 2014.
  • World's Largest Trees Help Explain California Forests' Bald Spots. (external link) Livescience.com article, 2014; Scientific American version: (external link)
  • Study Finds Forest Growth Dictated By Bedrock, Not Just Climate. (external link) Wyoming Public Media, 2014.
  • Granite bedrock and sequoia forests 'communicate' in the Sierra Nevada. (external link) National Science Foundation, 2014.
  • Granite Contributions to the Sierra Nevada. (external link) California Academy of Sciences, 2014.
Quercus garryana