- Evolution of contractional orogenic belts and foreland, hinterland, and intermontane basins
- Initial mountain building and plateau construction in retroarc and collisional plate-tectonic settings
- Sediment provenance and routing systems
- Influence of tectonics and climate on erosion, sedimentation, and basin evolution
- Integration of geochronology, thermochronology, and paleoaltimetry with basin analysis
- Physical sedimentology of modern and ancient fluvial and alluvial-fan depositional systems