Research Opportunity Description
Coastal flooding affects vulnerable peoples and represents significant losses to the U.S. national economy. The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by further exposing communities to coastal hazards. However, the protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous, economic terms as artificial defenses such as seawalls, and, therefore, are often not considered in decision-making. Our team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) have developed a physics-based, numerical modeling system that has demonstrated that coral reef restoration can reduce coastal flooding risk (Storlazzi et al., 2021). The Mendenhall Fellow will conduct nearshore coastal hydrodynamic modeling to optimize hybrid coral reef restoration designs and high-resolution maps of the resulting flood risk reduction of those restorations. We will follow a risk-based approach and apply state-of-the-art modeling tools that follow the methodologies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as described in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force’s “Coral Reef Restoration for Risk Reduction” guidance document (Stovall et al., 2022) to compute benefit:cost ratios. Ultimately, our goal is to identify, in a spatially explicit manner, where hybrid coral reef restoration would be most cost effective for coastal flood mitigation and provide the necessary data to support applications for US federal coastal hazard risk reduction (pre-disaster mitigation and/or post-disaster recovery) funding for coral reef restoration.
The Mendenhall Fellow will advance the science and practice of modeling hybrid coral reefs as nature-based solutions to reduce the risk to, and increase the resiliency of, tropical coastal communities by leading two modeling efforts:
1. Conduct theoretical hydrodynamic modeling to test coral restoration configurations to optimize design for different areas (‘Restoration Design’).
Although there have been a number of hybrid coral reef structures deployed, the only ones specifically optimized for coastal flooding hazard risk reduction are those being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Reefense Program, and these are specifically tuned to the geomorphology and oceanography of the specific locations. However, what if the seabed in the target restoration area is steeper? Deeper? What if the storm wave heights are higher? The wave periods shorter? The goal of this effort would be to expand the 1-dimensional (Quataert et al., 2015) modeling of different theoretical coral reef restorations by Roelvink et al. (2021) to 2-dimensional over a range of seabed geomorphologies and oceanographic conditions to determine the best restoration design for a given reef restoration site - a need defined by Viehman et al. (2023). For example, if the overall goal is to protect 1,000 meters of coastline using 5,000 square meters of hybrid structure, is it best to put a solid structure 1000 m long and 5 meters wide? Two, parallel, 1000 meter-long and 2.5-meter-wide structures located 20 meters in the cross-shore apart? Two, parallel, 1000 meter-long and 2.5-meter-wide structures located 50 meters in the cross-shore apart? Something else? How does the optimal hybrid design vary for changes in seabed slope, wave height, water depth, per Norris et al. (2024)? This would help guide restoration design in locations such as Florida, Hawai’i, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have received FEMA hazard mitigation or recovery funding for coral reef restoration.
2. Assess the hazard risk reduction provided by theoretical restoration scenarios optimized for Florida’s five coral reef-lined counties (‘Restoration Assessments’).
The Fellow will develop fine-scale, site-specific, 2-dimensional horizontal or 3- dimensional models of optimized hybrid coral reef restorations to assess its hazard risk reduction potential. The alongshore locations of each model would be directed by stakeholder engagement and local community feedback. The models themselves would extend from offshore of the potential reef restoration sites to onshore far enough to cover the 500-year floodplains. The specific siting and design of the restorations in each of the models would be based on lessons learned from the theoretical modeling of different structure sizes and configurations. These models would be run for a number of storm scenarios to feed benefit:cost analyses.
Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Research Advisor(s) early in the application process to discuss project ideas.
This Research Opportunity supports a range of Administration priorities related to environment, climate, and equity concerns. It strongly connects with multiple Executive Orders (‘EO’) related to the US National Climate Assessment, Nature-Based Solution (EO 14072), Climate Adaptation (EO 14008), and Environmental Justice (EO 14096). The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) have called out nature-based solutions and climate as research and development priorities. This effort would also address multiple needs outlined by the interagency U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and the USGS Risk Strategy by translating hazard products into risk assessments, improving risk communication, and advancing information delivery to support underserved communities to provide equity.
References
Norris, B.K, Storlazzi, C.D., Pomeroy, A.W.M., and Reguero, B.G., 2024. “Optimizing infragravity wave attenuation to improve coral reef restoration design for coastal defense” Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12:768, doi: 10.3390/jmse12050768
Quataert, E., Storlazzi, C.D., van Rooijen, A., Cheriton, O.M., and van Dongeren, A., 2015. “The influence of coral reefs and climate change on wave-driven flooding of tropical coastlines.” Geophysical Research Letters, v. 42, p. 6407-6415
Roelvink, F.E., Storlazzi, C.D., van Dongeren, A.R., and Pearson, S.G., 2021. “Coral reef restorations can be optimized to reduce coastal flooding hazards” Frontiers in Marine Science, 8:653945, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.653945
Stovall A.E., Beck, M.W., Storlazzi, C.D., Hayes, J., Reilly, J., Koss, J., Bausch, D., 2022. Coral Reef Restoration for Risk Reduction (CR4): A Guide to Project Design and Proposal Development. U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, Washington, DC, 31p. https://coralreef.gov/assets/about/cr4_guide_nov2022_508.pdf
Storlazzi, C.D., Reguero, B.G., Cumming, K.A., Cole, A.D., Shope, J.A., Gaido L., C., Viehman, T.S., Nickel, B.A., and Beck, M.W., 2021. “Rigorously valuing the coastal hazard risks reduction provided by potential coral reef restoration in Florida and Puerto Rico.” U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1054, 35p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211054
Viehman T.S., Reguero, B.G., Rosman, J.H., Lenihan, H.S., Storlazzi, C.D., Goergen, E.A., Canals Silander, M.F., Groves, S.H., Holstein, D.M., Bruckner, A.W., Carrick, J.V., Haus, B.K., Royster, J.B., Duvall, M.S., Torres, W.I., Hench, J.L., 2023. “Coral restoration for coastal resilience: a framework for multi-scale integration of ecology, hydrodynamics, and engineering” Ecosphere, 14:e4517, doi: 10.1002/ecs2.4517
Proposed Duty Station(s)
Santa Cruz, California
Areas of PhD
Coastal engineering, oceanography, geology, or related fields (candidates holding a Ph.D. in other disciplines, but with extensive knowledge and skills relevant to the Research Opportunity may be considered).
Qualifications
Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: Research Civil Engineer, Research Environmental Engineer, Research Oceanographer, Research Geologist, or Research Physical Scientist.
(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's background, education, and research proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the Human Resources specialist.)
