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Ayse Karanci

Global Change Fellow Alumna | Department of Civil Engineering | North Carolina State University

2013 – 2014 Global Change Fellow

Where are they now?

Ayse is a Coastal Engineer at Mofatt & Nichol.

Statement of purpose:

I am a PhD student working with Dr. Margery Overton at North Carolina State University. My main research interests lies in modeling coastal hazards and development of coastal management strategies to enhance the resilience of the coastal areas. For the past decades extreme weather events have been causing serious damage to coastal communities. Understanding the behavior of coastal landforms during these events is essential to make sound management decisions.

Description of research:

My research focuses on modeling and predicting the impacts of extreme storm events such as hurricanes and sea level rise on coastal landforms. Extreme events such as hurricanes pose a serious threat to security, infrastructure and resources of coasts which are getting more populated. My work is concentrated on barrier islands which are highly dynamic landforms and vulnerable to erosion and migration due to waves, winds, tides and sea level rise. Using geospatial tools and numerical models I examine the past storms to understand the processes that take place during such extreme events. My research will contribute to SECSC’ Science Theme 5: Impacts of Climate Change on Coastal and Nearshore Marine Environments, Task 2: Develop scenarios of coastal landform and habitat change. Climate change alters both the frequency and characteristics of hurricanes. It is expected that as temperatures increase hurricanes will be less frequent but much more destructive. Also the increase in sea levels increases the vulnerability of coastal areas due to storm surge. I plan to simulate variations of possible extreme storm events to detect vulnerable areas and get better understanding of potential risks and threats. Results of these simulations can be used to increase awareness, develop mitigation strategies, infrastructure planning and other decision making processes.

Contact Information:

Email: akaranci@moffatt&nichol.com

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