As a Coastal Geomorphologist my research examines critical questions related to the environmental and anthropogenic drivers of change in tropical coastal systems. My work is multi-disciplinary, situated at the interface of geomorphology, nearshore oceanography, and ecology, and of direct relevance to the resilience and management of coastal communities. I adopt a systems approach to examine processes, feedbacks and sediment fluxes that modulate coastal landform change at a range of temporal scales (past 10,000 years, present, and future).
My broad areas of interest include:
Resolving the morphodynamics and environmental controls on the evolution and contemporary dynamics of coastal systems, with a focus on tropical coral reefs and reef islands.
Sea-level rise, coral reefs and ecosystem services.
Development of an empirical basis to predict physical coastal landform dynamics and ocean hazards to support coastal adaptation in coastal communities.
Changes in sea levels, ocean seawater temperatures and ocean acidification over the last 2,000 years.
I have worked extensively across the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean and my research draws heavily on field-based, laboratory and remote-sensing methods.
From August 2022 I assumed the role as Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee
Before joining NUS in July 2022, I held the positions as Dean of the Faculty of Science, and Professor of Earth Sciences at Simon Fraser University, Canada (2018-2022); Professor of Coastal Processes and Head of School of the Environment at the University of Auckland (2013-2018); Associate Professor in the School of Environment University of Auckland (2002-2012); and prior to that Senior Research Fellow at the International Global Change Institute, University of Waikato, and Lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of Melbourne. I have also worked in the private sector applying practical physical geography knowledge to address environmental management problems and inform coastal management decision making.
PhD Coastal Geoscience, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia
MA (Hons) Geography, University of Auckland, New Zealand
BA Geography, University of Auckland, New Zealand
I am always interested in working with graduate students in my broad areas of research interest. I have previously supervised 40 Masters research students and 19 PhD students. The following provides a sample of the range of recent PhD projects I have supervised.
Dr Ashton Eaves 2022 Modelling the economic implications of coastal managed retreat.
Dr Laura Raubichaux 2022 The Coastal Risk Management Implementation Gap: Evaluating Project Drivers and Barriers.
Dr Meghna Sengupta 2021 Reef islands from space: a remote sensing – machine learning approach to identify the drivers of shoreline change on Pacific coral reef islands.
Dr Oliver Knebel 2020 Boron isotope records from Pacific microatolls: modifications in Porites lutea calcifying fluid composition under anthropogenic ocean acidification and natural pH variability.
Dr Megan Tuck 2019 Physical modelling investigation of reef island morphodynamics under rising sea levels. (co-supervisor)
Dr Christine Liang 2016 Sedimentology and formation of lagoonal platform reef islands in Huvadhoo atoll, Maldives.
Dr Edward Beetham 2016 Field and numerical investigations of wave transformation and inundation on atoll islands.
Dr Tuan Meng Lee 2015 The effect of environmental factors on the dynamics of bacterial populations associated with coral colonies and the implications for holobiont health.
Dr Kyle Morgan 2014 A Calcium carbonate budget of a Maldivian reef platform.
Coastlines are among the most physically dynamic landforms on earth and low-lying coastal plains are also among the most densely populated places. Understanding the rate, magnitude, timescales and causes of coastal change are important to support effective coastal management and future planning developments. I am interested in quantifying coastal change, how this varies spatially (and between different coastal landform types) and resolving the key processes that drive coastal change. My work has focussed on small island nations and coral reef settings in the Indian Ocean, South-East Asia, Pacific, and Caribbean settings. I am actively engaged in research projects in the following areas.
I am particularly interested in resolving the evolution of coastal landforms, and the processes controlling coastal change from millennial to event timescales. Findings of this research provide necessary insight into future landform trajectories. Specific areas of interest include:
Coral reefs provides a myriad of ecosystem services to reef fringed coastal communities. The physical structure of reefs provides the substrate for human settlement, and the reef structure is widely perceived as critical in filtering ocean wave energy and therefore, buffering communities from wave erosion and flooding. However, the contemporary and future capacity of reefs to maintain growth, and the geomorphic services that reefs afford coastal communities is poorly resolved. I have ongoing projects that are:
I am also interested in reconstructing past environmental conditions including sea level variability, sea surface temperature and ocean seawater chemistry over the past 2,000 years. Such reconstructions are important for understanding the boundary conditions for coastal change over the past two millennia, but also for contextualising recent anthropogenic changes in ocean properties.
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