Research Projects
Research Interests
coastal geology, sedimentology, marine science, coastal response to climate change, land-use science, anthropogenic impacts to Earth systems, morphodynamic modeling
Overarching Research Themes
The effects of global climate change on coastal environments are dynamic, non-linear, and often hyper-local. In recognition of this dynamic response to environmental change, coastal geologic research now pushes beyond a singular focus on the effects of sea-level rise. Instead, recent research focuses on a wide range of factors that drive coastal environmental change, including human-natural dynamics, physical and biological couplings, and local site-specific geological parameters.
My research adds to this body of knowledge by linking the broad array of local and regional coastal geologic processes to global drivers of coastal change.
Specifically, I integrate geological records of past coastal change with process-based models and modern observations to help coastal communities plan for future change.
Sediment coring on Assateague Island, Virginia using a Geoprobe 66DT drill rig.
Barrier Island Morphodynamics
What causes coastal erosion on barrier islands? How and why have barrier islands changed in the past?
Recent work I co-authored in Marine Geology investigates coastal change at Parramore Island, Virginia, where underlying geology and changes in sediment supplied to the barrier island forced multiple changes from seaward growth to landward erosion.
Similarly, past and present coastal change at Cedar Island, Virginia is controlled by a complex interplay among sea-level rise, local geology, and inlets. I wrote a Coastal Sediments paper that provides additional details of the geomorphic history of Cedar Island.
My co-authors and I more closely explored the relative control of sea-level rise (a global process) and the geology underlying the island (a local to regional process) in a paper published in Sedimentology. We found that in some locations, such as coastal New Jersey, sea-level rise and human changes to the coastal environment will likely control the fate of these islands and their human populations. In other locations, including coastal Virginia and Maryland, where human influence is reduced and the local geology is sandy and shallow, these local geological controls are as important as sea-level rise in determining future change to the coast.
To further explore changes between seaward barrier growth and landward erosion/migration, Daniel Ciarletta (USGS) developed a morphodynamic model of barrier change. An open access paper is available at Earth Surface Dynamics.
Sediment Trapping at Coastal Landforms
The formation and collapse of updrift sediment sinks, such as infilled embayments, erosion of sandy headlands, and barrier/spit progradation, can regulate downdrift sediment fluxes and play a predominant role in the behavior of sandy coastal landforms. However, the dynamics, volumes, and fluxes of sediment trapped and mobilized are poorly constrained.
In an ongoing project, I ask: What are the magnitudes of sediment trapping at progradational barrier islands and elongational spits and what are associated effects on longshore transport and the behavior of the downdrift coast? To answer this question I integrate millennial, centennial, and decadal records of sediment fluxes trapped in the progradational-elongational Assateague-Chincoteague-Wallops barrier-island system (see image of southernmost Assateague Island above) to reconstruct the multi-kilometer-scale development and morphodynamics of this sandy coastal sediment sink. This work is published open access in Quaternary Science Reviews.
Previously, my colleagues and I published a Coastal Sediments paper in which we compare sediment trapping in coastal landforms in Virginia to similar geologic features in Brazil.
Environmental Records Preserved in Beach Ridges
Beach ridges are formed by wave processes if sea-level falls and/or the supply of sediment to the coast is sufficiently high. These former beaches and dunes together preserve signals of past environmental change including sea level, the supply of sediment to the coast, changes in storm frequency and intensity, and variability in wave climate. Through interdisciplinary research methods, my collaborators and I have explored the formation of beach ridges by integrating field observations and geological records into a new numerical model of beach ridge formation.. These findings are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface
Currently, we are exploring the effects of waves on beach ridge formation. This is valuable for understanding, for example, past changes in wave conditions With my colleagues, I am currently exploring the formation of these ridges by integrating field observations, geospatial data, and a computer model of coastal hydrodynamics (Delft3D). To increase the impact of this work associated with my Sea Grant Fellowship, I am coordinating with the local planning district and stakeholders to develop a technical advisory product about past and future environmental change at the local inlet.
Anthropogenic and Natural Changes in Estuarine Sediment Accumulation
How do sea-level rise, land use change, and local hydrodynamics influence sediment accumulation in estuarine tidal flats?
In this project published open access in Anthropocene Coasts, I used geochemical (radioisotopes, bulk organic carbon, metal speciation, XRF, radiocarbon dating), sedimentological (laser particle size analysis, comparison to standards), hydrodynamic, and historical data to observe changing sedimentation in the Merrimack River estuary (Massachusetts, USA).
For a class project, I applied similar techniques to study marshes in the York River (Virginia) estuary. The co-authored work is published in Ecosystems.
Inter/Transdisciplinary Research
I am working with an interdisciplinary team of early career scientists, engineers, architects, and lawyers to develop a new conceptual model of coastal adaptation. I was invited to present this model and the process we used to develop the model at the International Transdisciplinarity Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden in September 2019.
I have also recently collaborated with landscape architects to apply coastal geologic tools (ground penetrating radar, sediment cores, and ground-water monitoring wells) to site investigations of infilled tidal creeks.
Land Use
I have a long-standing interest in land-use policy and science.
I previously conducted research on urban planning and equity in suburban parks. This work appears in the journal Recreation, Parks, and Tourism in Public Health.
Please reach out if you're interested in developing new projects focused on questions of land use, particularly in coastal environments.
Page last updated on 28 December, 2020