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Dan Harris

PhD Candidate

Email:

Supervisor
Dr. Ana Vila Concejo

Assoc. Supervisors
Dr. Jody Webster
Assoc. Prof. Peter Cowell

PhD Title: Morphodynamics of Coral Reefs and Associated Sedimentary Bodies

Dan Harris is part of the Geocoastal group and affiliated with USIMS and the GeoReef lab. His research focus is concerned with the processes and morphology of coastal systems, specifically coral reefs and low energy beaches.

Dan’s PhD project is concerned with the morphodynamics of coral reef systems and the potential effects of future climate change scenarios on their associated sedimentary bodies (e.g. sand aprons and low lying reef islands). Such environments are perceived to be some of the most at-risk under future climate change scenarios. However, recent geomorphological studies have found that low-lying reef islands exhibit a remarkable degree of resilience to changes in hydrodynamic processes. This confusion is due to a poor understanding to the moprhodynamics of coral reef systems, with most studies having focused on the geological, ecological or hydraulic. This project will add to the morphodynamic understanding of coral reefs by looking at the hydrodynamic processes acting on One Tree reef and the associated morphology. In addition cores taken from One Tree sand aprons will allow for long-term paleoenvironmental analysis. Results from long- and short-term assessments will then be used to calibrate morpho-kinematic models which will be implemented to predict future effects of climate change on coral reef sedimentary environments.

Research Projects

  • 2010-present: Sand Aprons in Coral Reef Environments: Morphodynamics and Evolution
  • 2009 –present: Flood-tide delta morphodynamics and shoreline implications in Port Stephens. Website

Publications

  • Harris D. L. (2009) Multi-scale morphodynamic assessment of an embayed low-energy estuarine beach, Shoal Bay, Port Stephens, NSW. B.Sc. (Hons) thesis. School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Australia.

Conference Proceedings and Abstracts

  • Harris, D, Benavente, J, Austin, T, Vila-Concejo, A (2009). Multi-scale morphodynamic assessment of an embayed low-energy estuarine beach, Shoal Bay, Port Stephens, NSW. Proceedings of NSW Coastal Conference.