Staff details

Teaching interests
My teaching is currently focussed on three main areas - introductory oceanography, wave and sediment dynamics and meteorology. Over the years I have also taught a wide variety of other subjects including aspects of meteorology, atmospheric modelling, fluid statics and dynamics, underwater acoustics, personal development, use of information technology and Visual Basic programming.

I am also currently responsible for marketing and recruitment activity relating to the Marine Sciences Scheme (B.Sc. Ocean Exploration and B.Sc. Ocean Science).

During the period 2006-2009 I was Associate Head (Teaching and Learning) for the School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences and had responsibility for overseeing the operation and quality assurance of all taught programmes deliver by the School. This included leading the School through an internal Periodic Review of its programmes in 2007-2008. Previously, I have acted as Marine Sciences Scheme Manager (2006), Programme Leader for the BSc Ocean Science (2004-2005) and as Subject Tutor for the same programme (1995-1997) and was Director of Undergraduate Programmes in the Institute of Marine Studies (1997-2000). The latter role involved managing the Marine Studies Modular Degree Scheme taken by around 650 students each year and included leading the re-writing and re-validation of the entire degree scheme (1997-1998).  

Staff serving as external examiners
MSc Applied Physical Oceanography, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor  

Research interests

My research is focused on developing simplified models of the behaviour of coastal morphodynamical systems. Examples of such systems that I have studied include sand ripples, beach cusps and systems of offshore (surf zone) sand bars. Although complex behaviour is commonly observed in such systems, relatively simple descriptions of the underlying physics of key processes can be sufficient to capture the critical components of the behaviour of the system, provided that feedback between evolving morphological features and key processes is incorporated. My personal interest is primarily, though not exclusively, in developing models that challenge or elucidate our understanding of the behaviour of these systems, rather than the development of quantitative models with predictive capability. More information is available here .

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

- Tinker, J., 2009, Measuring and modelling of cross-shore sediment transport and profile evolution on natural beaches, PhD thesis, University of Plymouth, 307pp.

- Marino-Tapia, I., 2003, Cross-shore sediment transport processes on natural beaches and their relation to sand bar migration patterns, PhD thesis, University of Plymouth, 305pp.

- Saulter, A.N., 2000, Analysis of infragravity frequency sediment transport on macrotidal beaches, PhD thesis, University of Plymouth, 312pp.

- Coco, G., 1999, Mechanisms for the formation of rhythmic topography in the nearshore region, PhD thesis, University of Plymouth, 149pp.

Grants & contracts

- O'Hare, T.J., and Pannell, M.A., The Marine Sciences Forum, £3,000, University of Plymouth Teaching Fellowship Award [2006-2007]

- Russell, P.E., Masselink, G., and O'Hare, T.J., Cross-shore sediment transport and profile evolution on natural beaches (X-SHORE), £199,955, Natural Environment Research Council. [2004-2007].

-O'Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., Human Interaction with Large Scale Coastal Morphological Evolution (HUMOR), £73,900, European Commission. [2001-2004].

-Huntley, D.A., Bird, P.A, and O'Hare, T.J., Surf and Swash Zone Mechanics (SASME), £93,000, European Commission. [1997-2000].

Publications

JOURNAL PAPERS

-Tinker, J., O'Hare, T., Masselink, G., Butt, T., and Russell, P.E., A cross-shore suspended sediment transport shape function parameterisation for natural beaches, Continential Shelf Research, 2009, 29, 1948-1960. doi:10.1016/j.csr.2009.03.011
-Butt, T., Tinker, J., Masselink, G., O'Hare, T., and Russell, P.E., 2009, Field observations of sediment fluxes in the inner-surf and swash zones, Journal of Coastal Research, 25, 991-1001, doi:10.2112/08-1044.1
-Austin, M.J., Masselink, G., O'Hare, T., and Russell, P.E., 2009, Onshore sediment transports on a sandy beach under varied wave conditions: Flow velocity skewness, wave acceleration or bed ventilation?, Marine Geology, 259, 86-101. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2009.01.001

-Davidson, M.A., O'Hare, T.J., and George, K.J., 2008, Tidal modulation of incident wave heights; fact or fiction?, Journal of Coastal Research, 24(2B), 151-159. doi:10.2112/06-0754.1.
-Masselink, G., Austin, M., Tinker, J., O'Hare, T., and Russell, P., 2008, Cross-shore sediment transport and morphological response on a macrotidal beach with inter-tidal bar morpology, Marine Geology, 251, 141-255. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.01.010.

-Austin, M.J., Masselink, G., O’Hare, T.J., and Russell, P.E., 2007, Relaxation time effects of wave ripples on tidal beaches, Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L16606, doi:10.1029/2007GL030696.
-Marino-Tapia, I.J., Russell, P.E., O'Hare, T.J., Davidson, M.A., and Huntley, D.A., 2007, Cross-shore sediment transport on natural beaches and its relation to sand bar migration patterns: 1. Field observations and derivation of a transport parameterization, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, CO3001, doi:10.1029/2005JC002894.
-Marino-Tapia, I.J., O'Hare, T.J., Russell, P.E., Davidson, M.A., and Huntley, D.A., 2007, Cross-shore sediment transport on natural beaches and its relation to sand bar migration patterns: 2. Application of the field transport parameterization, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, CO3002, doi:10.1029/2005JC002894.
-Masselink, G., Auger, N., Russell, P., and O'Hare, T., 2007, Short-term morphological change and sediment dynamics in the intertidal zone of a macrotidal beach, Sedimentology, 54, 39-53, doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00825.x.
-Masselink, G., Austin, M.J., O'Hare, T.J., and Russell, P.E., 2007, Geometry and dynamics of wave ripples in the nearshore zone of a coarse sandy beach, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, C10022, doi:10.1029/2006JC003839.
-Masselink, G., Buscombe, D., Austin, M., O'Hare, T., and Russell, P., 2007, Sediment trend models fail to reproduce small-scale sediment transport patterns on an intertidal beach, Sedimentology,  doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2007.00917.x.

-Huntley, D.A., Coco, G., and O'Hare, T.J., 2006, Abstracted modeling as a tool for understanding and predicting coastal morphodynamics, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 39 (ICS 2004 Proceedings), 21-27.
-O'Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., 2006, Comment on "Morphologic properties derived from a simple cross-shore sediment transport model" by N. G. Plant, B. G. Ruessink, and K. M. Wijnberg, Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, C07003, doi:10.1029/2004JC002808.
-O'Hare, T.J., Ostrowski, R., Emsley, S.M., and Huntley, D.A., 2006, Application of two coastal profile evolution models to Lubiatowo, Poland and La barrosa, Spain, Archives of Hydro-Engineering and Environmental Mechanics, 53, 3-35.

-Baldock, T.E., O’Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., 2004, Long wave forcing on a barred beach, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 503, 321-343.

-Coco, G., Huntley, D.A., and O’Hare, T.J., 2001, Regularity and randomness in the formation of beach cusps, Marine Geology, 178, 1-9.

-Baldock, T.E., Huntley, D.A., Bird, P.A.D., O’Hare, T.J., and Bullock, G.N., 2000, Breakpoint generated surf beat induced by bichromatic wave groups, Coastal Engineering, 39, 213-242.
- Coco, G., Huntley, D.A., and O’Hare, T.J., 2000, Investigation of a self-organization model for beach cusp formation and development, Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 21991-22002.

-Coco, G., O’Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., 1999, Beach cusps: a comparison of data and theories for their formation, Journal of Coastal Research, 15, 741-749.

-O’Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., 1994, Bar formation due to wave groups and associated long waves, Marine Geology, 116, 313-325.

-O’Hare, T.J., and Davies, A.G., 1993, A comparison of two models of wave propagation over rapidly-varying topography, Applied Ocean Research, 15, 1-11.
-O’Hare, T.J., and Davies, A.G., 1993, Sand bar evolution beneath partially-standing waves: laboratory experiments and model simulations, Continental Shelf Research, 13,1149-1181.

-O’Hare, T.J., and Davies, A.G., 1992, A new model for surface wave propagation over rapidly-varying topography, Coastal Engineering, 18, 251-266.

-Warman, C.G., O’Hare, T.J., and Naylor, E., 1991, Vertical swimming in wave-induced currents as a control mechanism of intertidal migration by a sand-beach isopod, Marine Biology, 111, 49-54.

-O’Hare, T.J., and Davies, A.G., 1990, A laboratory study of sand bar formation, Journal of Coastal Research, 6, 531-544.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

-Tinker, J., Russell, P., Masselink, G., O’Hare, T., Butt, T., Ganderton, P. and Gallagher, E., X-SHORE: Cross-shore sediment transport and beach profile evolution. Proceedings 30th International Conference on Coastal Engineering, ASCE,

-Baldock, T.E. and O'Hare, T.J., 2004, Energy transfer and dissipation during surf beat conditions, In: J. McKee Smith (ed.), Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2004 (Lisbon), World Scientific (Singapore), 1212-1224.
-Marino-Tapia, I.J, O'Hare, T.J., Russell, P.E., Davidson, M.A., and Huntley, D.A., 2004, Sand bar dynamics from a parametric morphodynamic model, In: J. McKee Smith (ed.), Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2004 (Lisbon), World Scientific (Singapore), 2755-2766.

-Baldock, T.E., O'Hare, T.J., Chan, S.T.H., Huntley, D.A., Bird, P.A.D., and Bullock, G.N., 2002, Surf beat kinematics induced by random waves, In: J. McKee Smith (ed.), Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2002 (Cardiff), World Scientific (Singapore), 1130-1142.
-Mariño-Tapia, I., O’Hare, T.J., Russell, P.E., Davidson, M.A., and Huntley, D.A., 2002, Onshore and offshore bar migration modelled with an energetics-type sediment transport model In: J. McKee Smith (ed.), Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2002 (Cardiff), World Scientific (Singapore), 2686-2698.
-Pannell, M.A., O'Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., Modelling of sand ripple development by self-organization in unsteady flow conditions In: J. McKee Smith (ed.), Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2002 (Cardiff), World Scientific (Singapore), 2837-2849.

-Marino Tapia, I., Russell, P.E., O'Hare, T.J., Davidson, M.A., Saulter, A.N., Miles, J.M., and Huntley, D.A., 2001, Relationship between vertical wave asymmetry and the fourth velocity moment in the surf zone: implications for sediment transport, In: B.L. Edge and J.M. Hemsley (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium Waves 2001 (San Francisco), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 1295-1305.

-Baldock, T.E., Huntley, D.A., Bird, P.A.D., O’Hare, T.J., and Bullock, G.N., 2000, Surf beat generation by a time-varying breakpoint. In: W.L. Edge (ed.), Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2000 (Sydney), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 1398-1411.
-Coco, G., Huntley, D.A., Masselink, G., O’Hare, T.J., and Pattiaratchi, C.B., 2000, Fractal behaviour in nearshore processes. In: W.L. Edge (ed.), Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2000 (Sydney), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 2901-2913.

-O’Hare, T.J., Baldock, T.E., Huntley, D.A., Bird, P.A.D., and Bullock, G.N., 2000, Free long wave-short wave interaction in a surf zone. In: W.L. Edge (ed.), Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2000 (Sydney), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 1448-1461.
-Pritchard, M., Huntley, D.A., and O’Hare, T.J., 2000, Mixing in a small tidal estuarine plume. In: M.L. Spalding and H.L. Butler (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modelling (New Orleans), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 931-946.

-Coco, G., Huntley, D.A., and O’Hare, T.J., 1999, Beach cusp formation: analysis of a self-organization model. In: N. Krauss and W. McDougal (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes (Coastal Sediments ’99), American Society of Civil Engineers (Virginia), 2150-2205.

-Fisher, P.R., and O’Hare, T.J., 1997, Morphological effect of Spring-Neap tidal variation on macrotidal beaches. In: E.B. Thornton and D.A. Huntley (eds.), Proceedings of the Coastal Dynamics ’97 Conference (Plymouth), American Society of Civil Engineers (New York), 476-485.
-Saulter, A.N., O’Hare, T.J., and Russell, P.E., 1997, Analysis of infragravity wave-driven sediment transport on macrotidal beaches. In: E.B. Thornton and D.A. Huntley (eds.), Proceedings of the Coastal Dynamics ’97 Conference (Plymouth), American Society of Civil Engineers (New York), 1033-1042.

-Fisher, P.R., and O’Hare, T.J., 1996, Modelling sediment transport and profile evolution on macrotidal beaches. In: W.L. Edge (ed.), Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Coastal Engineering, (Orlando), American Society of Civil Engineers (New York), 2994-3005.
-Simmonds, D.J., O’Hare, T.J., and Huntley, D.A., 1996, The influence of long waves on macrotidal beach morphology. In: W.L. Edge (ed.), Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Coastal Engineering, (Orlando), American Society of Civil Engineers (New York), 3090-3103.
-Thuresson, A.K., Turner, A., Nimmo, M., and O’Hare, T.J., 1996, The influence of changing environmental conditions on the partitioning of nickel in rivers and estuaries: a comparison of predicted results and field data, Abstracts of papers of the American Chemical Society, 211, 58 (Geoc.).

-O’Hare, T.J., 1994, The role of long waves in sand bar formation: a model exploration, In: A.S. Sanchez-Arcilla, M.J.F. Stive and N.C Krauss (eds.), Proceedings of the Coastal Dynamics ’94 Conference, (Barcelona), American Society of Civil Engineers (New York), 78-88.
-Foote, Y.L.M., Huntley, D.A., and O’Hare, T.J., 1994, Sand transport on macrotidal beaches, In: M. Bélorgey, R.D. Rajaona and J.F.A. Sleath (eds.), Proceedings of the Euromech 310 Colloquium, (Le Harve), World Scientific (Singapore), 360-374.

OTHER OUTPUTS 

-O’Hare, T.J., 2009, Return to the Challenger Conference - a personal reflection, Ocean Challenge, 16(2), 7-8.

-Witt, N.A.J., O’Hare, T.J., and Harwood, D., 1999, CAL for Basic Science, Science Education Enhancement and Development (SEED) Working Paper Series, Paper Six, 21pp.

 -O’Hare, T.J., 1992, Sand bar evolution beneath partially-standing waves: laboratory experiments and model simulations, Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales, 370pp.

-O’Hare, T.J., 1991, Bragg reflection and sand bar formation, Ocean Challenge, 2, 43-48.

-O’Hare, T.J., 1989, A laboratory investigation of sand bar formation, M.Sc. thesis, University of Wales, 144pp.

Reports & invited lectures

REPORTS

-O’Hare, T.J., Emsley, S.M., and Huntley, D.A., 2004, An abstracted model for beach profile evolution over timescales of months with application to Duck, USA and La Barrosa, Spain, Report on work completed under milestones 2.7.2, 2.7.3 and 2.7.4 and 6.6.6.7 of the European Commission funded project HUMOR (Human Interaction with Large-Scale Coastal Morphological Evolution), 39pp. [available from the author]
-O’Hare, T.J., Emsley, S.M., and Huntley, D.A., 2004, Morphodynamic instability of the surf zone: behaviour of nearshore bar systems, Report on work completed under milestone 4.1.5 of the European Commission funded project HUMOR (Human Interaction with Large-Scale Coastal Morphological Evolution), 22pp. [available from the author]

Conferences organised
Member of the Local Organising Committee for Marine Science 2002 Conference, Plymouth, September 2002 (Challenger Society Centenary Conference).
Member of the Local Organising Committee for the Coastal Dynamics '97 Conference, Plymouth, July 1997.  

Links
B.Sc. (Hons) Ocean Exploration degree:
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/2554/BSc+(Hons)+Ocean+Exploration
B.Sc. (Hons) Ocean Science degree:
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/0350/BSc+(Hons)+Ocean+Science

Coastal Processes Research Group:
http://www.coastalprocesses.org/
Centre for Coastal Dynamics and Engineering:
http://www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/c-code/default.htm  
The Marine Institute:
http://www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/marine/