Of Marsh and Men: Staying above water at Bothin with Laurel Collins

Laurel Collins is a fluvial geomorphologist with 40 years of experience studying western rivers, streams, and tidal marshes. Raised in Marin, she studied geology and received her degree from UC Berkeley. She has worked as a geomorphologist for organizations including the CA Dept. of Forestry, USGS, US Dept. of Justice, SF Estuary Institute, and Marin and Alameda Counties. She established Watershed Sciences, a consulting firm working on Bay Area issues associated with land use practices on geomorphic processes and landscape response.

Laurel Collins explores man’s impact over time on the upper Richardson Bay shore in the vicinity of Bothin Marsh and Tam Valley. The natural landscape challenged the lives of early settlers and land developers. Their legacy of landscape alteration complicates current efforts to address a rapidly rising Bay during this century.