Dance Your PhD 2024 Physics Winner: Force of Flows

Choreographed by Ph.D. student Layla El-Khoury, “Force of Flows” depicts the evolution of a stream over time. It illustrates the degradation of the stream caused by various factors such as increased intensity and frequency of storms and anthropogenic activities that accelerate streambank erosion and end with the stream eventually returning to a stable state. From the movement vocabulary and partner work to the formations and directional facing, each element of this piece was directly informed by a stream’s natural behavior and how it would meander through space. “Force of Flows” is inspired by El-Khoury’s research, which focuses on identifying and improving procedures and protocols to target the most logical stream restoration and stabilization sites. With an understanding of how streams behave, morph, and erode over time, we can explore statistical modeling techniques to predict the locations of streambank erosion within a watershed more effectively. Identifying locations of severe erosion before ente