Teaching interests

I have been employed at Britannia Royal Naval College since 1999, following a spell working for the offshore oil industry.  I contribute to the delivery and development of courses in oceanography, underwater acoustics and meteorology.  I am presently module leader for The Littoral Environment, having previously run Coastal and Estuarine Science and Underwater Acoustics.  I have worked as an Associate Lecturer with the Open University, where I taught the S330 Oceanography course. 

I am the project manager for the Hydrographic Academy, working to provide accredited training and education through e-learning at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, for hydrographic surveyors and those working in the wider marine industries:

 

Research interests

I am a founding member and the research coordinator for the Centre of Excellence in Naval Oceanographic Research and Education (CENORE), and work closely with the Royal Navy, industry and academia on military-orientated oceanographic research.

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/marine/cenore

I am presently working on several projects examining estuarine mixing, frontal systems in estuaries, and acoustics in shallow water.  I am also actively engaged in research to improve and enhance teaching and learning.

 

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Current PhD Students:

·         Feng Chen.  2010-present.  Effect of mesoscale variability of water masses in a shallow sea on acoustic wave propagation

·         Ali Saif Ali Saleh Almehrezi.  2010-present (part-time).  Local Meteorology and its effects on sensors over the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf.

 

Grants & contracts

·      £41,000.  Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (principal investigator):  Capability of Remote Sensing and Ocean Modelling to provide the underwater Recognised Environmental Picture.  December 2010-August 2011.

·         £73,000.  National HE STEM programme (principal investigator): The Hydrographic Academy: Meeting the needs of the workforce and industry through innovative flexible online, distance learning.  May 2011-present.

·         Development and pre-operational validation of upgraded GMES Marine Core Services and capabilities (MyOcean) EU-FP7 Research Project, Co-PI with the University of Plymouth team (2009-2011) 

 

Publications

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Priestley, A. D. and Thain, R. H.  2010. Sonar propagation in stratified waters. Hydro-International, 14 (2), 15-17.

Thain, R. H. and Priestley, A. D.  2010.  Scales of sound velocity variability in estuaries and shallow water, littoral areas.  Hydrographic Journal 131 & 132, 9-15.

Thain, R. H. , A. McDonough and A. D. Priestley.  2008.  A Teaching and Learning Strategy for a Modern Military Academy. Journal of Further and Higher Education Vol. 32, No. 4, 297–308

Thain, R. H., A. D. Priestley and M. A. Davidson.  2004.  The formation of a tidal intrusion front at the mouth of a macrotidal, partially mixed estuary: a field study of the Dart estuary, UK.  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 61, 161-172.

  

REFEREED ARTICLES IN CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Thain, R. H.,  A. D. Priestley, J. Pickering, G. Shapiro.  2010.  Predicted and observed variability in sound speed in the oceanic littoral.  Maritime Rapid Environmental Assesment Conference, NATO Undersea Research Centre, Lerici, Italy.  18-22 October 2010.

Thain, R. H.,  A. D. Priestley, G. W. R. Hall.  2009.  An analysis of high frequency sonar performance in estuaries:  Are we missing the target?  Hydro 09, Cape Town, South Africa, 10-12 November 2009.

Priestley, A. D. and R. H. Thain.  2009.  Enhancing the Student Experience through Integrated Research and Education in Hydrography, Meteorology and Oceanography.  Hydro 09, Cape Town, South Africa, 10-12 November 2009.

Priestley, A. D., T. E. Mason. and R. H. Thain.  2008.  Acoustic signatures of sediment transport on gravel and mixed sand and gravel beaches. International Conference on Coastal Engineering (ICCE), Hamburg, Germany, 31August-5 September  2008.

 

Priestley, A. D. and R. H. Thain.  2007.  Changing the Culture: A Teaching and Learning Strategy for a Modern Military Academy. International Training and Education Conference, Cologne (ITEC 2007).

Priestley, A. D. and R. H. Thain. 2003.  Water column variability at an estuarine mouth: implications for multibeam sonar surveys. Third international conference on high resolution surveys in shallow water, Sydney, Australia, 17-21 November 2003.

Thain, R. H. & A. D. Priestley.  2002.  The importance of tidal intrusion fronts for sonar operations.  Proceedings of the XIIIth International Scientific Conference, Naval University of Gdynia, Poland. 

Thain, R. H. & A. D. Priestley.  2002.  Sound speed variability across an estuarine front.  Proceedings of the Undersea Defence Technology(UDT) conference, La Spezia, Italy.

 

Reports & invited lectures

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Thain, R.H. et al.,  2011,  Capability of Remote Sensing and Ocean Modelling to Provide the Underwater Recognised Environmental Picture (REP).  Report prepared for the Osprey Consortium, Task 27, MUWE/05/22/42/261, Thain R.H.and A.D. Priestley (eds.)   63pp.

 

OTHERS

 

Met Office,Devon.  May 2010.  Bridging the gap – Academia meets the military. 

 

ECSA symposium, Estuaries of South West England, Plymouth, Devon.  April 2005. The physical oceanography of the lower Dart estuary:  Temporal trends andfrontal dynamics.

 

Devon Living Coasts, Kingsbridge, Devon.  November 2004. Temporal variability in the Dart estuary.

Hydrographic Society, Plymouth, Devon.  October 2004.  Modelling multibeam sonar performance in an estuarine environment.

Royal Navy Hydrographic Conference, Plymouth, Devon. October 2004.  Developments in estuarine research: implications for surveyors

 

Links

Centre of Excellence in Naval Oceanographic Research and Education - CENORE

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/marine/cenore