Kirk Bryan (1888-1950) was a geographer and geomorphologist whose research spanned biology, anthropology, plant ecology, and climate science. Born in New Mexico, Bryan grew up in the arid landscape of western North America, and much of his work as a scientist would focus on water in these dry regions. After receiving his doctorate in geology from Yale, he worked with the USGS from 1912 until 1925 when he accepted a position at Harvard. As a professor of geology and geomorphology, Bryan taught key figures in the next generation of geomorphologists–including Luna Leopold and Gordon Wolman–the quantitative tools they would use to transform the field and develop fluvial geomorphology.