United Kingdom Coastal Research Conference

Jenny's interests are in modelling and monitoring coastal flood and erosion hazards and their impacts. She studied Physical Oceanography with Maths at Bangor University and continued to do a PhD modelling sediment transport. She continued as a shelf seas modeller starting work in 2007 at the Proudman Oceanographic Institute, which in 2010 became the National Oceanography Centre. Jenny has worked on many different projects modelling shelf sea and estuarine processes as well as coastal impacts, such as beach response, shoreline evolution and flood inundation.

Prior to working at the University of Plymouth, Daniel was a Research Scientist at the NATO Undersea Research Centre in La Spezia Italy. Daniel brings over 35 years' experience in collecting field measurements in coastal and estuarine environments across the globe. He has particular expertise in the measurement and modelling of coastal sediment transport as well as experience in assessing resources and impacts for marine renewable energy developments.

Suzana has a specific interest in coastal hydrodynamics, sediment interactions, coastal geomorphology and the impacts of climate change and human interventions on the future of coastal environments. She is currently co-investigator on the Beachex project, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. The project aims to determine the response of artificial gravel beaches to storms, and provide guidance for their design and long-term nourishment.

She works with local authorities and other organisations to deliver academic outputs as well as societal and commercial impacts. Dr Ilic is Coastal Advisor to the Environment Agency North West Regional Flooding and Coast Committee and a member of the North West Coastal Group. She is also a board member for the project Our Future Coast funded by the Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Resilience programme.

Academically Helen's background is in environmental science and coastal geomorphology, with her PhD focusing on the Formby coast sand dune system. Prior to joining the National Trust she worked for many years in consultancy, specifically in the development of shoreline management plans, coastal strategies, and defence schemes.Helen's current role at the National Trust involves providing advice and technical support to their property teams who look after around 800 miles of incredibly diverse coastline across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They face many challenges along their frontages in the face of coastal change, but this can also present opportunities to think and respond differently, to benefit both people and nature.

It is vital that management decisions along our coasts are driven by an understanding of coastal processes and geomorphological response and are based on the best available scientific evidence. Helen's particular interests therefore lie in progressing understanding of how our coastlines evolve in response to changing drivers and development of tools for projecting future coastal change, at decadal-plus timescales.

Since completing his PhD on coastal morphological change at University College Cork, Lee has worked on a range of coastal and estuarine topics for the Environment Agency. These include Shoreline Management Plan development and implementation, establishing a coastal monitoring programme in the North West of England and assessing impacts of development on estuarine and coastal hydromorphology. In his current role, Lee oversees coastal research undertaken by the EA/Defra FCERM R&D Joint Programme. This includes working in partnership across government, industry and academic sectors to help manage the risk from flooding and coastal erosion through the application of robust evidence.

Charlie is a Lecturer in Coastal Processes and Sediment Dynamics in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton, and Director of the Channel Coastal Observatory, which coordinates the National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes (NNRCMP) in England. With a research focus on the interactions between water and land, she has over 20 years’ experience working on multi-disciplinary coastal research. Research interests include the complex interaction between coastal vegetation and sediment transport, resuspension processes and the exchange of solutes and particulates across the sediment-water interface, the fluid and solid transmitted stresses on the seabed, and novel techniques for monitoring coastal change. Through the NNRCMP, she ensures the collection of the evidence base which underpins Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England, working to provide consistent, continuous, and cost-effective monitoring of coastal change and its drivers. 

Recent research includes the NERC Highlight topic “BLUEcoast, Physical and biological dynamic coastal processes and their role in coastal recovery’, the UKRI funded ‘Coastal Resilience’, and the Environment Agency funded National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping projects.