Coral reefs are among the most important coastal ecosystems both in terms of their biological diversity and economic value. They are also one of the more complex coastal systems from a physical oceanographic standpoint. Many coral reefs occur on remote islands or on steep, narrow shelves; thus, larger scale oceanographic forcing interacts directly with these shallow nearshore systems. Reefs are also geometrically very complex, and reef topography varies at scales ranging from centimeters to kilometers, introducing another set of challenges. This seminar will explore physical processes on coral reefs across four scales: 1) island-scale (10 to 100-km); 2) bay/lagoon scale (1-km); 3) reef scale (10 to 100-m); and 4) bommie scale (0.1 to 1-m). Examples of these processes will be drawn from on-going work in Moorea, French Polynesia (see http://mcr.lternet.edu).

Jim Hench received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University, a M.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, and Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher and then Research Scientist and Lecturer at Stanford University before starting as an Assistant Professor at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Fall 2009. Jim's research includes flow over and through coral reefs, physical-biological interactions, and marine technology.

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