Leopold is widely known in his primary field for his work in fluvial geomorphology and for the classic book, Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology, that he wrote with Gordon Wolman and John Miller.[2]
Leopold suggested that a new philosophy of water management is needed, one based on geologic, geographic, and climatic factors as well as traditional economic, social, and political factors. He argued that the management of water resources cannot be successful as long as it is naïvely perceived from an economic and political standpoint, as it is in the status quo.
Career
From 1937 to 1940, Leopold worked as an engineer for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in New Mexico. In 1940, he enlisted and was a part of the U.S. Army Weather Service and the Army Air Force. He was in the Army until 1946 and he rose from the rank of Private to Captain.
From 1946 to 1950, Leopold served as the Chief Meteorologist of the Pineapple Research Institute, Hawaii. In 1950, he joined the U.S. Geological Survey. He worked for the USGS until 1972 serving as Hydraulic Engineer (1950–56), Chief Hydrologist (1956–66), and Senior Research Hydrologist (1966–72). During his tenure as Chief Hydrologist he made lasting changes in the conduct of hydrology in the USGS. He unified the field offices of the Water Resources Division from being identified as surface water, groundwater, or quality of water offices and formed single district offices, one for each state. He also created the National Research Program of the Water Resources Division. In addition he promoted the importance of USGS working on the important and controversial topics such as land use change, flood control, water pollution, and groundwater development.
In 1972, Leopold joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics and Department of Landscape Architecture. He retired in 1986 and continued as a Professor Emeritus until his death in 2006.
^Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., ISBN0-8137-1155-X.
