College of Science

My teaching and research are centered around earth surface processes from drainage divides all the way down into coastal systems. In addition to courses and research in surface processes, I also teach students fundamental field and analytical skills related to hydrology, land surveying technology, and remote sensing. My courses take an experiential learning approach to student learning, including course-based research experiences and field modules where students learn a skill and apply to a local watershed or coastal science problem that has implications for sustainable land management or natural hazards planning. 

I lead the Watershed Geology Lab in the Department of Applied Environmental Science. Some topic areas and projects we’ve been focusing on both are: 

• Post-wildfire erosion and runoff processes: including participation in the NASA FireSense Implementation team to improve remote sensing techniques related to burn severity and the use of UAS-SfM to quantify post-wildfire sediment transfers and projects looking locally in Monterey Bay region at post-fire sediment transfer impacts on sensitive habitat (Scott Creek)
• Fluvial geomorphology and freshwater resources: long-term monitoring of bed grain size and morphology of the Carmel River (USGS and NOAA collaboration) following the 2015 San Clemente Dam Removal, monitoring the effectiveness of habitat restoration and mobility of large woody debris placement (in partnership with Santa Cruz RCD in Aptos Creek, CA) .
• Coastal erosion monitoring: in collaboration with the USGS, we are developing a high-fidelity time series of coastal erosion in the Southern Monterey Bay Littoral Cell from repeated low-altitude plane imagery with the aim to look at initial impacts of the closure of a large sand mine.
• Landslide and gully monitoring: local projects tracking annual motion of deep-seated landslides (Hollister Hills, CA) and monitoring of gully erosion with the aim to inform restoration of disturbed lands of the Santa Lucia Preserve, CA.
   

I also co-lead a $2M workforce development program at CSUMB as part of Climate Resilient Monterey Bay (funded by NOAA from 2025-2029 with the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation as the prime awardee). This program includes dozens of internship opportunities in climate-related fields, which include some funded PSM internships. So if you are interested in pursuing a PSM on a climate resilience-related watershed/coastal science project, reach out. Keep an eye out on SIP for some of our undergraduate opportunities. Lastly, for undergrad students interested in gaining research experience, I commonly host students through UROC, so reach out to me if you’re interested in my work!

Previous Academic Position:

• Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Irvine (2021-2022) 

Education:

• Ph.D. in Environmental Science, University of California, Riverside (2021)
• M.S. in Geology, Idaho State University (2017)
• B.S. in Geoscience, Boise State University (2014) 

 

Title	Assistant Professor
Phone	831-582-4661
Email	jguilinger@csumb.edu
Office Location	Chapman Science Academic Center (Bldg 53) Rm E116
Research Lab	Watershed Geology Lab
Areas of Expertise	Geomorphology, watershed hydrology, topographic surveying, geospatial analysis, remote sensing
Courses Taught	GEOL 260 - Geology / Hydrology GEOL 360 - Geomorphic Systems GEOL 460 - River Hydrology, Assessment and Monitoring ENVS 295: Field Surveying Technology ENVS 560 - Watershed Systems