Richard E. Sparks, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Tel: (618) 468-4826
E-mail: rsparks@uiuc.edu

Dr. Sparks is a visiting professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and in the Environmental Council at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.  He continues to be affiliated with the Illinois Natural History Survey, where he directed the Large River Research Program on the Upper Mississippi River system for 26 years. 

He co-authored The Flood Pulse Concept In River-Floodplain Systems, which describes the role of seasonal flood cycles in maintaining the ecological structure and function of large floodplain-river ecosystems.  He served on several committees of the U.S. National Research Council and currently advises American Rivers and The Nature Conservancy. 

In Argentina, Brazil and India, he provided advice on management of floodplain ecosystems and large rivers. At the state level, he currently serves on the Science Advisory Committee for the Lt. Governor’s Illinois River Coordinating Council. 

His current research includes:

• assessment of an electric barrier in the Chicago canal system to prevent transfer of harmful aquatic organisms between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi basins,
• restoration alternatives for large floodplain rivers, using the Illinois River and Upper Mississippi River as test cases.