Keywords: Mountain geography, Cryosphere, Geomorphology, Natural hazards.
Research Interests:
- Geomorphology
- Mountain Geography
- Periglacial Geomorphology
- Field Methods in Geography
Research:
- Geomorphology
- Alpine geography
- Periglacial geomorphology
- Natural hazards
- Environmental change
Dr. Sawyer focuses on landscape-scale and micro-scale regions and how those places react and adjust to change, i.e. climate change, disturbances (animal, natural), and human-induced changes. She focuses specifically on mountain regions and their landforms, including mass wasting (debris flows and avalanches), and changes in the alpine treeline regions of the Western U.S. mountains. Dr. Sawyer’s most recent research has been in the Olympic Mountains of Western Washington.
Some of my current research interests include:
- Ground heaving in response to frost
- Frost-related surface responses in alpine environments
