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Research group

Coastal Communities

View of Blackpool Tower, beach and coastal defences on a sunny day.

Coastal Communities SIG focuses on bringing together researchers and non-academic stakeholders to tackle challenges facing coastal communities. 

About

We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers interested in tackling real-world challenges in coastal communities. We aim to improve understanding and capacity to adapt to these challenges by bringing together those researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders who are affected, interested and/or involved in coastal communities. Through creating a forum for discussion, sharing methods and best practice, and doing research together, we can improve understanding and management of the challenges that coastal communities face, ranging from the health impacts of air pollution to social effects of climate change-driven coastal change.  

On an annual basis, the Coastal Communities SIG will host three formal meetings to:

  • Bring together researchers from across all faculties and institutes at the University of Southampton to discuss coastal communities research and identify opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. This will support the sustainability of existing working relationships, create space to build new partnerships, and facilitate interdisciplinary coastal communities bid development.
  • Invite University of Southampton researchers and external stakeholders to participate in a methods/best practice workshop, focusing on a cross-cutting approach. This will provide opportunity for researchers and other stakeholders to meet and upskill in methods/best practice they may not have encountered within their own discipline or working practice.
  • Hold a lunchtime forum with academic, policy and practitioners invited both as guest speakers and participants to learn from and network with each other. This will enable researchers and other stakeholders to share leading-edge research and practice and facilitate new collaborative partners for future research.

The Coastal Communities SIG invites those from within and outside of the University of Southampton to join the group. We welcome new ideas for events, trainings, speakers.

To find out more about the Digital Oceans Special Interest Group and what we do, get in touch with group champions Sien Van Der Plank and Lareb Dean.

Join the SMMI Community to sign up to this group and our other special interest groups.

People, projects and publications

People

Dr Dianna Smith

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Social and spatial health inequalities

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: d.m.smith@soton.ac.uk

Address: B44, West Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Emma Tompkins

Prof of Geog, Environment & Development

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: e.l.tompkins@soton.ac.uk

Address: B44, West Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Miss Fiona Woods

Research interests

  • Restoration ecology
  • Ecosystem functions and services
  • Nutrient remediation

Email: f.woods@soton.ac.uk

Address: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus European Way, SO14 3ZH

Professor Fraser Sturt

Professor of Archaeology

Research interests

  • Maritme Archaeology
  • Geomatics
  • Evaluation methods

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: f.sturt@soton.ac.uk

Address: B65a, Avenue Campus, Highfield Road, SO17 1BF

Dr Giulia Champion PhD

Research Fellow (Anniversary Fellowship)

Research interests

  • Blue, Energy and Environmental Humanities
  • Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies
  • Marine and Maritime Cultural Productions

Professor Graham Moon PhD, FAcSS, HonMFPH

Research interests

  • Place effects on health-related behaviour, particularly smoking, diet and alcohol consumption
  • Applications of multilevel modelling in human geography; small area estimation methods
  • Post-asylum geographies and mental health care delivery

Email: g.moon@soton.ac.uk

Address: B44, West Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Dr Hachem Kassem

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Nearshore hydrodynamics and coastal sediment dynamics
  • Coastal and ocean engineering and flow-structure-seabed-biota interactions
  • Adaptive, nature-inclusive solutions to climate-mediated geohazards, including flooding, erosion and habitat degradation

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: hachem.kassem@soton.ac.uk

Address: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus European Way, SO14 3ZH

Dr Helen Paul MA(Oxon), MLitt, PhD, FRHistS, FRSA

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Economic History
  • Social History
  • Business History

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: h.j.paul@soton.ac.uk

Address: B58, West Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Ivan Haigh

Professor

Research interests

  • I have four main areas of research, as follows:
  • Mean Sea level: local, regional and global trends, detection of accelerations, understanding of inter-annual variability
  • Extreme sea levels and coastal Flooding: Changes in storm surges, extreme value analysis, compound events,

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: i.d.haigh@soton.ac.uk

Address: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus European Way, SO14 3ZH

Dr Jan Janouskovec PhD

Lecturer in Ecology

Research interests

  • Protist diversity and ecology
  • Evolution of eukaryotic cells
  • Metabolism in plastids & mitochondria

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: j.janouskovec@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Connect with us

Enquiries

If you're interested in joining us or collaborating, get in touch with the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.