“Accelerated Sea Level Rise and Coastal Engineering in the Anthropocene”
Presented by Dr. Robert A. Dalrymple
Willard & Lillian Hackerman Professor
of Civil Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
Friday, April 13, 2018
3:00 pm in The Owens Banquet Room
Sea levels are rising faster around the world than previously envisioned and they are accelerating. Nuisance flooding in coastal cities has increased dramatically in the last fifty years–it is
the vanguard of future inundation. The current state of the science for relative sea level rise will be briefly reviewed. For centuries, hard structures, such as breakwaters, groins, and sea walls,
have been used to stop coastal erosion; however, the current emphasis for shore protection is on softer and greener approaches. Beach nourishment, wetlands, and other green approaches will be discussed in the context of protecting coastal cities.
Biography
ROBERT A. DALRYMPLE is the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and is currently Distinguished Professor of Coastal
Engineering in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department of Northwestern University. His major research interests are in the areas of coastal engineering, wave mechanics,
fluid mechanics, littoral processes, and tidal inlets. His research currently explores water wave modeling, tsunamis and their impacts on shorelines. Dr. Dalrymple was elected to the National
Academy of Engineering in 2006. He chaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on the Review of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Program and the Committee on Sea Level Rise in California, Oregon, and Washington. Dr. Dalrymple received his A.B. degree in engineering sciences from Dartmouth University, his M.S. degree in ocean engineering from the
University of Hawaii, and his Ph.D. degree in civil and coastal engineering from the University of Florida.