From sediment motion to landscape form.

We study how water, wind, and ice move sediment, shape landscapes, and preserve their histories on Earth and Mars.

Explore our research

Meet the team

Satellite image of the Selenga River delta flowing into Lake Baikal, 2025

$2.99M

Research funding secured
Since 2020

Lab members · past and present
Since 2023

High-Impact Work

Science · Nature Geoscience
Science Advances · Geology

Research themes

01 · Delta networks & land building

How delta networks build land

We connect channel geometry and flux partitioning to sediment dispersal and coastal growth.

Satellite view of Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana, showing branching distributary channels and new land

02 · Rio Grande delta dynamics

How the Rio Grande delta is changing

We study how dams, floods, wind, resacas, and abandoned channels reshape this highly modified coast.

Satellite map of the lower Rio Grande from Falcon Reservoir to the Gulf of Mexico

03 · Channel belts on Earth & Mars

What channel belts reveal on Earth and Mars

We use river migration and channel-belt geometry to read modern landscapes, ancient strata, and planetary surfaces.

Satellite view of a river channel belt used to compare landscapes on Earth and Mars

04 · Polar sediment routing

How sediment moves through polar landscapes

We link rivers, fjords, deltas, and ice-sheet margins within one sediment-routing system.

Drone view of an ice-sheet margin, proglacial lake, and rocky polar landscape

View all research

April 30, 2026 cover of Science featuring satellite imagery of the Yukon Delta

Featured research · Science 2026

Apparent Hack’s law in river deltas

Analysis of 30 delta networks and 5,892 nourishment areas shows that Hack-like scaling emerges from how local channel geometry is sampled and combined.

Explore publications

Members of the Dong Geomorphology Lab gathered outdoors at UTRGV

People & opportunity

Research grows through people.

At UTRGV, students build research experience through paid projects, field and quantitative training, NASA and university partnerships, and mentorship toward graduate study and scientific careers.

Hands-on Earth and planetary science research
Remote sensing, modeling, and field methods
Pathways from undergraduate research to graduate study and scientific careers