Coastal and Ocean

Coastal Engineering

Coastal communities contain 40% of the US and global populations. Sea-level rise and abnormal weather patterns are inevitable and hence researchers, engineers and practitioners need new tools and guidelines to evaluate these challenges to communities, infrastructure, and resources. A broad science and engineering knowledge are required for the construction, protection, and sustainable development of coastal communities, harbors, estuaries, and offshore resources. Foundational engineering knowledge is crucial, despite the fact that construction of coastal and offshore facilities is highly dependent upon unique site-specific characteristics, such as local bathymetry, coastal topography and the offshore wave climate. Coastal engineers who work in the nearshore region face a wide variety of problems, including:

• Shallow water directional wave spectra and storm surge.
• Hydrological, ecological, and biogeochemical effects of storm surge and coastal flooding.
• Compound flooding scenarios and impact to coastal communities and infrastructure.
• Coastal groundwater-surface water interactions and application to salinization.
• System analysis, optimization and application to coastal resilience and sustainability
• Shoreline changes due to beach nourishment or presence of structures.
• Beach erosion and recovery associated with storms.
• Estuarine hydrodynamics, mixing, cohesive sediments, and pollution transport.
• Forces and scour of marine structures, including levees and bridge piers.
• Improved breakwater design, including composition, shape, and orientation.
• Wave breaking and air bubble dynamics.
• Sediment transport, bedforms, benthic fluxes, and seabed dynamics.
• AI and cyberinfrastructure for water modeling.

Courses

Current course offerings and degree requirements are included in the current version of the Graduate Handbook.

Faculty