The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Gary Parker

Gary Parker
Gary Parker
  • Grainger Distinguished Chair Emeritus
  • W. H. Johnson Professor of Geology
  • Professor Emeritus
(217) 244-5159
2018 Civil Eng Hydrosystems Lab

Primary Research Area

  • Water Resources Engineering and Science

Research Areas

Biography

Gary Parker joined the faculty of the Environmental Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering group in the summer of 2005. He holds a 75 percent appointment in the Depart­ment of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a 25 per­cent appointment in the Department of Geology, where he is the W.H. Johnson Professor of Geology.

Professor Parker received a B.S. from the Department of Mechanics and Materials Science of Johns Hopkins University (1971) and a Ph.D. from the Department of Civil Engineering of the Uni­versity of Minnesota (1974). Before coming to the University of Illinois, he was an Institute of Technology Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minne­sota. During the period 1995-1999, he also served as Director of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, a water resources/fluid mechanics laboratory in the same department.

Prof. Parker was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysi­cal Union in 2003, and received the G.K. Warren Award in Fluviatile Geomorphology in 2002. He has received the Schoemaker Award twice and the Ippen Award from the International Association of Hydraulic Research, and the Einstein Award, Hilgard Prize and Stevens Award from the American Society of Civil Engi­neers. In 1991 he also received the University of Minnesota In­stitute of Technology Outstand­ing Teacher Award. In addi­tion to numerous journal articles, he has written an e-book, “1D Sediment Transport Morphodynamics with Applica­tions to Rivers and Turbidity Currents.” Parker teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in flu­id mechanics, river engineering, sediment transport. One of Prof. Parker's major research goals is to use the fundamental techniques of fluid mechanics and applied mathematics to treat interesting geomorphological problems. Related special research includes mechanics of river meandering; oceanic turbidity currents; sorting of mixed grain sediment by fluvial processes; bank erosion and protection using permeable dikes and vegetation; and reservoir sedimentation. Development of a mechanistic understanding of the processes involved with sediment transport in rivers and the ocean environment, and the morphologies they create, is of prime importance. River meander migration research has led to the development of computer models that predict channel shift and can therefore be used in the design of floodplain structures such as bridges, intakes, etc. In addition, research on depositional submarine fans has been found useful to oil companies as a means of helping locate oil deposits.

Education

  • PhD, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1974
  • BS, Dept. of Mechanics and Materials Science, Johns Hopkins University, 1971

Academic Positions

  • Professor, Dept. of Geology, University of Illinois, 2005-present (25%)
  • Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, 2005 - present (75%),
  • Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1985-2005
  • Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1980-1985
  • Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Alberta, 1976-1980
  • Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Alberta, 1975-1976

Major Consulting Activities

  • Barr Engineering, Minneapolis Minnesota
  • Holcim Cement, Missouri

Professional Registrations

  • American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C. (many years)
  • International Association of Hydraulic Research, Spain (many years)
  • American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, D.C. (many years)

Professional Societies

  • American Geophysical Union, Member
  • International Association of Hydraulic Research, Member, Fluid Mechanics Committee, River Hydraulics Committee
  • ASCE, Memberm Journal of Hydraulic Engineering editorship 2011-present
  • ASCE EWRI Sedimentation Committee

Service on University Committees

  • Geology, chair, evaluation committee, Thomas Johnson
  • Geology, evaluation committee, Craig Lundstrom
  • Geology Chair, evaluation committee, Steve Marshak
  • CEE EWES Cross-cutting committee
  • CEE Space Committee
  • Chair, Tenure and Promotion Committee, Prof. Wen-tso Liu, CEE Dept.

Service to Federal and State Government

  • Advice to US Army Corps of Engineers concerning wing dams on Mississippi River

Research Interests

  • Sedimentology
  • Ocean sedimentation
  • Turbidity currents
  • River morphodynamics
  • River engineering

Research Statement

Professor Parker’s major research interests are the mechanics of sediment-laden flow in rivers and turbidity currents, and resulting flow-boundary morphodynamic interactions. His current efforts focus on delta evolution, bedrock bedrock-alluvial transitions, bedrock meandering, drainage network formation, advection-dispersion of tracer pebbles, formation of continental shelves, muddy tidal morphodynamics, role of washload in rivers, long-runout turbidity currents and natural dam formation in meteogenic travertine systems.

Primary Research Area

  • Water Resources Engineering and Science

Research Areas

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

  • Parker, G. and Garcia, M., eds. 2005. River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics: RCEM 2005. Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 0 415 39270 5, Vols I and II, 2006.
  • ** Ikeda, S. and Parker, G. 1989. River Meandering. AGU Water Resources Monograph, Vol. 12, 1989.

Chapters in Books

  • Responses of river deltas to sea-level and supply forcing: autostratigraphic view by Muto., T., Petter, A.L., Steel. R.J., Swenson, J.B., Tomer, A. and Parker, G. Published in Earth Sciences, Ahmad Dar Imran, ed., Published by InTech INTECHWEB.ORG, Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Available at: www.intechopen.com, 255 – 274, 2012.
  • Transport of Gravel and Sediment Mixtures, by Gary Parker. Chapter 3 of: Sedimentation Engineering, ASCE Manual No. 110, Sedimentation Engineering: Processes, Measurements, Modeling, and Practice, ISBN 10 # 0784408149, ISBN 13 # 978078440814, May, 2008, 1050 p. (my portion is 165-252).
  • Adjustment of the bed surface size distribution of gravel-bed rivers in response to cycled hydrographs. G. Parker, M. Hassan and P. R. Wilcock. Gravel-Bed Rivers VI: From Process Understanding to River Restoration, Chapter 10, H. Habersack, H. Piégay, M. Rinaldi, Editors, Elsevier, 241-285, 2008.
  • The Fly River, Papua New Guinea: Inferences about river dynamics, floodplain sedimentation and fate of sediment, by William Dietrich, Geoff Day, and Gary Parker. In. Varieties of Fluvial Form (A. Miller and A. Gupta, eds.), John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1999.
  • Advances in sediment transport processes and fluvial morphology, by G. Parker. In Gravel-Bed Rivers in the Environment, Chapt. 2, pp. 7-14, 1999.

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Viparelli, E., Nittrouer, J.A. and Parker, G. 2015. Modeling flow and sediment transport dynamics in the lowermost Mississippi River, Louisiana, USA, with an upstream alluvial-bedrock transition and a downstream bedrock-alluvial transition: implications for land-building using engineered diversions. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120(3), 534-563 DOI: 10.1002/2014JF003257.
  • Zhang, L., Parker, G., Stark, C.S., Inoue, T., Viparelli, E., Fu, X.D. and Izumi, N. 2015. Macro-roughness model of bedrock-alluvial river morphodynamics, Earth Surf. Dynam. 3, 113-138, www.earth-surf-dynam.net/3/113/2015/doi:10.5194/esurf-3-113-201, doi:10.5194/esurf-3-113-2015..
  • Ganti, V. Chu, Z-X, Lamb, M.P., Nittrouer, J.A. and Parker, G. 2015. Testing morphodynamic controls on the location and frequency of river avulsions on fans versus deltas: Huanghe (Yellow River), China. Geophysical Research Letters 41(22), 7882-7890, DOI: 10.1002/2014GL061918.
  • Ma, H-B, Heyman, J., Fu, X-D, Mettra, F., Ancey, C. and Parker, G. 2015. Bed load transport over a broad range of timescales: Determination of three regimes of fluctuations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 119(12), 2653-2673, DOI: 10.1002/2014JF003308.
  • Ferrer-Boix, C., Martin-Vide, J.P. and Parker, G. 2015. Sorting of a sand-gravel mixture in a Gilbert-type delta. Sedimentology, published online March 4, 2015, doi: 10.1111/sed.12189.
  • Turmel, D., Locat, J. and Parker, G. 2015. Morphologic evolution of a well-constrained, complete subaerial-subaqueous source to sink system: Wabush Lake. Sedimentology, published online, DOI: 10.1111/sed.12197
  • Inoue, T., Izumi, N., Shimizu, Y. and Parker, G. 2014. Interaction between alluvial cover, bed roughness and incision rate in purely bedrock and alluvial-bedrock channel. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 119, DOI: 10.1002/2014JF003133.
  • Pelosi, A., Parker, G. Schumer, R. and Ma, H-B. 2014. Exner-Based Master Equation for transport and dispersion of river pebble tracers: Derivation, asymptotic forms, and quantification of nonlocal vertical dispersion. Journal of Geophysical Research, 119(9), DOI: 10.1002/2014JF003130, 1818–1832.
  • Li, C., Czapiga, M., Eke, E.C., Viparelli, E. and Parker, G. 2014. Variable Shields number model for river bankfull geometry: bankfull shear velocity is viscosity-dependent but grain size-independent. Journal of Hydraulic Research, DOI: 0.1080/00221686.2014.939113, online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221686.2014.939113#.VEng8sn4qSo, 13 p.
  • Eke, E.C., Czapiga, M., Viparelli, E., Shimizu, Y., Imran, J., Sun, T. and Parker, G., 2014. Coevolution of width and sinuosity in meandering rivers. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 760, 127- 174, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2014.556.

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  •  Viparelli, E., Blom, A. and Parker, G. 2012. Modeling stratigraphy formed by prograding Gilbert deltas.  Proceedings, River Flow 2012, San José, Costa Rica, 10 p.
  •  Turmel, D., Locat, J. and Parker, G. 2011. Upstream migration of knickpoints: geotechnical considerations. Proceedings, 5th International Conference on Submarine Mass Movements and their Consequences, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Viparelli, E., J. Shaw, A. Bevington, E. Meselhe, G. O. Holm, D. Mohrig, R. Twilley and G. Parker. 2011. Inundation model as an aid for predicting ecological succession on newly-created deltaic land associated with Mississippi River diversions: application to the Wax Lake Delta. Proceedings, EWRI Conference, ASCE, Palm Springs, May 22-26.
  • Eke, E. and Parker, G. 2011. Meander migration modeling with the incorporation of erosional and depositional bank processes. Proceedings, EWRI Conference, ASCE, Palm Springs, May 22-26.
  • Yeh, T-h, Eke, E. and Parker, G. 2011. The Effect of Sediment-Induced Stratification in Channel Bends. Proceedings, EWRI Conference, ASCE, Palm Springs, May 22-26.
  •  Parker, G. et al. (2009), Modeling the morphodynamics of the lower Mississippi River as a quasi-bedrock river Eos Trans. AGU, 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract EP32A-01.
  • Miwa H., and Parker, G. 2011. Sediment augmentation and its effects on low-flow channels. Proceedings, River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics Conference, Beijing, China, September 6 – 8.
  • Muto, T., Miao, H. and Parker, G. 2011. How do deltas respond as they prograde over bathymetry that varies in the transverse direction?: Results of tank experiments Proceedings, River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics Conference, Beijing, China, September 6 – 8.
  • Eke, E., Shimizu, Y. and Parker, G. 2011 Numerical modeling of meander migration incorporating erosional and depositional bank processes. Proceedings, River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics Conference, Beijing, China, September 6 – 8.
  • Yokokawa, M., Takahashi, Y., Yamamura H., Kishima Y., Parker, G. and Izumi, N. 2011. Phase diagram for antidunes and cyclic steps based on suspension index, non-dimensional Chezy resistance coefficient and Froude number. Proceedings, River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics Conference, Beijing, China, September 6 – 8.

Honors

  • Water Resources Research Editor's Choice Award (2014)
  • American Geophysical Union G. K. Gilbert Award (2014)
  • BSG Wiley Blackwell Award (2012 )
  • Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, EWRI, ASCE (2012 )
  • Tau Beta Pi Daniel C. Drucker Eminent Faculty Award, University of Illinois (2012 )
  • 5th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movement and their Consequences, Kyoto, Japan (2011)
  • Japan Society of Civil Engineering Hydroscience and Hydraulic Engineering (2009)
  • M. Selim Yalin Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association for Hydraulic Research (2007)
  • Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2003)
  • Harold Jan Schoemaker Award, International Association for Hydraulic Research (2003)

Teaching Honors

  • Frequently on Incomplete List of teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students (2006-present)
  • University of Minnesota Institute of Technology Outstanding Teacher Award (1991)

Research Honors

  • Water Resources Research Editor's Choice Award (2014)
  • American Geophysical Union G. K. Gilbert Award (2014)
  • BSG Wiley Blackwell Award (2012)
  • Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, EWRI, ASCE (2012)
  • Tau Beta Pi Daniel C. Drucker Eminent Faculty Award, University of Illinois (2012)
  • 5th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movement and their Consequences, Kyoto, Japan (2011)
  • Lifetime Research Award, Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System Morphogynamics (2010)
  • Japan Society of Civil Engineering Committee on hydroscience and Hydraulic Engineering Best Paper Award (2009)
  • IAHR M. Selim Yalin Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)
  • Awarded W. H. Johnson Professorship, Department of Geology, University of Illinois (2005)