Christian Torgersen

  • Affiliate Assistant Professor
    • (206) 616-1874
  • Visit Christian's website
  • Christian Torgersen

    • Affiliate Assistant Professor

    Research areas

    Landscape ecology, freshwater ecology, watershed processes, spatial and temporal analysis, scale, remote sensing

    B.A., Geography, German, Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
    M.S., Ph.D., Fisheries Science, Oregon State University

    Autumn 2026-27 Admissions: Please reach out to Professor Torgersen to inquire about their ability to admit new students.

     

    Courses

    • SEFS 521b | Seminar - Current Topics in Forest Research: Ecological Scaling (2) - Autumn (alternate years)

    Current sponsored projects

    • Identifying and restoring cold-water refuges for the protection and restoration of habitat for native salmonids in the Pend Oreille River basin

    • Effects of drought on stream temperature and flow permanence the Donner and Blitzen River basin (Oregon)

    • Multi-layered interdisciplinary mapping of riverscapes in the Pacific Northwest

    • Using remote sensing, modeling, and in-situ thermal mapping to evaluate potential effects of thinning in riparian forests on stream temperature

    Selected publications

    Yazzie, K. C., Torgersen, C. E., Schindler, D. E., & Reeves, G. H. (2023). Spatial and Temporal Variation of Large Wood in a Coastal RiverEcosystems, 1-14.

    Torgersen, C. E., Le Pichon, C., Fullerton, A. H., Dugdale, S. J., Duda, J. J., Giovannini, F., … & Baxter, C. V. (2022). Riverscape approaches in practice: Perspectives and applicationsBiological Reviews97(2), 481-504.

    Mejia, F.H., C.E. Torgersen, E.K. Berntsen, J.R. Maroney, J.M. Connor, A.H. Fullerton, J.L. Ebersole, and M.S. Lorang. 2020. Longitudinal, lateral, vertical, and temporal thermal heterogeneity in a large impounded river: Implications for cold-water refuges. Remote Sensing, 12(9): 1386.

    Gendaszek, A.S, J.B. Dunham, C.E. Torgersen, D.P. Hockman-Wert, M.P. Heck, J. Thorson, J. Mintz, and T. Allai. 2020. Land-cover and climatic controls on water temperature, flow permanence, and fragmentation of Great Basin stream networks. Water, 12(7): 1962.

    Lawler, J.J. and C.E. Torgersen. 2020. Assessing the relative importance of factors at multiple spatial scales affecting terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. Current Landscape Ecology Reports, 5: 12-24.

    Richardson, J.J., C.E. Torgersen, and L.M. Moskal. 2019. Lidar-based approaches for estimating solar insolation in heavily forested streams. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 23: 2813-2822.

    Dittbrenner, B.J., M.M. Pollock, J.W. Schilling, J.D. Olden, J.J. Lawler, and C.E. Torgersen. 2018. Modeling intrinsic potential for beaver (Castor canadensis) habitat to inform restoration and climate change adaptation. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0192538.