Position Title
Assistant Professor
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- [email protected]
- https://geosystems.engineering.ucdavis.edu/
- https://cee.engineering.ucdavis.edu/directory/michaelgardner
Dr. Gardner's research focuses on quantifying how geologic setting and infrastructure design interact. This involves numerical models implemented in software that is capable of capturing the multiscale nature of these interactions. He is especially interested in natural hazard modeling and describing how infrastructure responds to this type of loading as an aggregated system. His research group incorporates the latest advances made in computing technology into open-source tools that can be used by the research community as well as practitioners. Additionally, his research group is working on ways to utilize advances made in remote sensing and UAV technology such that the data acquired from these technologies can be quickly processed and used to update model predictions.
- Editor's Choice in Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 2023
- Finalist, LaMay Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Science, University of Nevada, Reno, 2022
- Best Paper, 52nd US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, 2018
- Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, University of California, Berkeley, 2012
- Benchmarking Contact Detection Algorithms Used in Polyhedral Particle System
Journal Article | Keissar, Y., Gardner, M., Sitar, N. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 50, 53-64. 10.1002/nag.70088 - Brief communication: Hypergravity testing of thawing rates in frozen sand
Journal Article | Gardner, M., Buttery, S., Ham, S., Khan, H., Wilson, D., DeJong, J. The Cryosphere, 20, 3405-3413. 10.5194/tc-20-3405-2026 - A new algorithm for accurate contact point calculation between convex polyhedral particles in DEM
Journal Article | Keissar, Y., Gardner, M., Sitar, N. Computers and Geotechnics, 184, 107240. 10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107240 - Needs, Opportunities, and Challenges of Pre-, during, and Post-Storm Reconnaissance in Coastal Environments
Conference Paper | Stark, N., Gardner, M., Grilliot, M., Raubenheimer, B., Frost, J. Array, 2025-November, 180-188. 10.1061/9780784486528.019 - Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle‐Based Multispectral Imagery for River Soil Monitoring
Journal Article | Gardner, M., Stark, N., Ostfeld, K., Brilli, N., Lemnitzer, A. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 18, 10.1111/jfr3.70027 - See publications and more on Aggie Experts: https://experts.ucdavis.edu/expert/W2MMovMA