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Research Group: Coastal Engineering and Management

Currently Active:: Yes

The Coastal Engineering and Management Research Centre combines expertise from a range of disciplines in Engineering and the Environment and has strong links with other faculties at Southampton, including Ocean and Earth Sciences at the National Oceanographic Centre and the Geodata Institute, Faculty of Social and Human Science. Our work ranges from the surveying, monitoring and modelling of physical processes (from the littoral zone to the offshore), including coastal engineering structures, to the assessment of risk and adaptation along the coast. There is a strong focus on climate change issues, and this issue is considered from the scale of Southampton and the Solent to the global scale. The more vulnerabler coastal settings are considered, especially small islands and deltas. There are extensive national and international collaborations with other universities and industry.

Group Overview

Examples of recent research have included:

wave breaking and aeration
prediction of extreme water levels using neural networks
scour of beaches at the base of defences
response of water tables to climate and other change in coastal aquifers
coastal cliff stability and erosion
mean and extreme sea-level rise in the English Channel: 1900 to 2006
the swell wave climate in the English Channel
downdrift erosion on cliffed coasts
estuary responses to human and climate influences

A major focus of our research is on long-term coastal change over many decades, including the impacts and responses to climate change and sea-level rise. We also lead the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research's Coasts Programme, which is exploring how the coast will evolve under a changing clime, including uncertainties, and developing a sound science basis for long-term coastal management decision-making. Our research also includes regional- to global-scale assessment of climate change in coastal areas conducted for governmental organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and the EU.

The Centre is part of the University-wide Centre for Coastal Processes, Engineering and Management (CCPEM).

For further information, please contact Professor Robert Nicholls.

Other University of Southampton sites

Tyndall Centre

Postgraduate opportunities

The Coastal Engineering and Management Group provide the MSc Engineering in the Coastal Environment (ECE) which is jointly run with Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceangraphy Centre. To find out more, the ECE course has it's own blog, run by a former student. The Group also provides the Southampton contribution to the Erasmus Mundus MSc Coastal and Marine Engineering and Management (CoMEM), which is lead by NTNU (Trondheim) and also involves Delft University of Technology, UPC (Barcelona) and City University (London)

Research Staff

List of all staff members in Coastal Engineering and Management
Staff Member	Primary Position
William Allsop	Visiting Professor
Sally Brown	Senior Research Fellow
Derek Clarke	Lecturer in Water Resources
Jiayi Fang	Visiting Postgraduate research student
Susan Hanson	Research Fellow
Gerald Muller	Associate Professor
Robert Nicholls	Professor of Coastal Engineering
Marie Schlenker	Postgraduate research student
Talia Sherrard	Postgraduate research student
Ian Townend	Visiting Professor
Sien van der Plank	Postgraduate research student in coastal flood risk management
Colin D. Woodroffe	Visitor

Related Projects

List of related projects to Coastal Engineering and Management
Related Projects	Status
When will 1.5°C of warming occur, and what will the consequences be? (ADJUST1.5)	Active
Can we maintain efficient energy supplies? Adaptation and Resilience of Coastal Energy Supply (ARCoES)	Active
CLIMSAVE - Climate change integrated assessment methodology for cross-sectoral adaptation and vulnerability in Europe	Active
Coastal Landfill and Shoreline Management: Implications for Coastal Adaptation Infrastructure	Active
ESPA Deltas	Active
iCOASST - integrating coastal sediment systems	Active
Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC)	Active
Quantifying projected impacts under 2°C warming (IMPACT2C)	Active
Quantifying projected impacts under high end climate change (RISES-AM-)	Active
THESEUS: Innovative technologies for safe European coasts in a changing climate	Active
Belmont Forum DELTAS	Active

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