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Email
ckharris@vims.edu
Office
Franklin Hall 212 
Phone
(804) 684-7194
Research Site:
www.vims.edu/~ckharris

Courtney K. Harris

·  Associate Professor of Marine Science

·  B.S., University of Virginia

·  M.S., University of California, Berkeley

·  M.S., Ph.D., University of Virginia

Research Interests

My research has been directed at improving our ability to quantify and predict sediment transport on continental shelves over a variety of temporal and spatial scales. I have been involved in interdisciplinary projects that considered interactions between shelf sediment transport and small scale stratigraphy, sediment budgets, geochemistry, coastal oceanography, and climatology. Involvement in large experiments has involved collaboration with field oceanographers and geologists that has benefited my research focus of numerically modeling suspended sediment transport on shelves. Current research includes developing models of the processes that distribute fluvially-derived sediment on the Italian side of the Adriatic Sea,  and off-shore of the Eel River, northern California. I am also involved in a field- and modeling-investigation aimed at quantifying sediment redistribution in the New York Bight. My collaborative experiences have convinced me that we can make the best strides by building models and tools that are available to the research community as a whole. I am therefore active in a group of oceanographers and geologists who are working to develop a community sediment transport model by developing and testing numerical models that account for sediment transport and oceanographic circulation.
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Current Projects

  • MUDBED: response of fine-grained sediment transport to biological and physical processes. Funded by NSF.
  • MARGINS Source-to-Sink transport: the Waipaoa River nearshore and shelf environment. Funded by NSF.
  • NGOMEX 2006 - Mechanisms Controlling Hypoxia: Process Studies. Funded by NOAA.
  • Sediment dispersal and reworking in the north-western Adriatic. Funded by the Office of Naval Research.
  • Sediment roughness estimates in Chesapeake Bay, funded by the EPA.
  • Dispersal off of the Waiapu River, New Zealand, funded by NSF.

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Selected Publications

Wheatcroft, R.A., P.L. Wiberg, C.R. Alexander, S.J. Bentley, D.E. Drake, C.K. Harris and A.S. Ogston. 2006. Post-depositional alteration and preservation of sedimentary strata. Chapter III of Continental Margin Sedimentation: From Sediment Transport to Sequence Stratigraphy, C. A. Nittrouer et al. (eds.), Blackwell Press, (in press).

Syvitski, J.P.M., L. Pratson, P. Wiberg, M. Steckler, M. Garcia, R. Geyer, C.K. Harris, E. Hutton, J. Imran, H. Lee, M. Morehead, and G. Parker. 2006. Prediction of Margin Stratigraphy. Chapter XI of Continental-Margin Sedimentation: Transport to Sequence, C. Nittrouer, et al. (eds), Blackwell Press, (in press).

Harris, C.K., P. Traykovski, and W.R. Geyer (2005) Flood dispersal and deposition by near-bed gravitational sediment flows and oceanographic transport: A numerical modeling study of the Eel River shelf, northern California. Journal of Geophysical Research. 110(C09025): d0i: 10.1029 / 2004JC002727.

Harris, C.K., P.A. Traykovski, and R.W. Geyer (2004) Including a Near-Bed Turbid Layer in a Three Dimensional Sediment Transport Model With Application to the Eel River Shelf, Northern California. Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, ASCE, M. Spaulding (editor). 784 803.

Harris, C.K., B. Butman, and P. Traykovski (2003) Wintertime circulation and sediment transport in the Hudson Shelf Valley. Continental Shelf Research, 23: 801-820.

Harris, C.K. and P.L. Wiberg (2002) Across-shelf sediment transport: interactions between suspended sediment and bed sediment. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107(C1): 10.1029 / 2000JC000634.

Wiberg, P.L. and C.K. Harris (2002) Desorption of p,p-DDE from sediment during resuspension events on the Palos Verdes shelf, California: a modeling approach. Continental Shelf Research, 22(6-7): 1005-1023.

Wiberg, P.L., D.E. Drake, C.K. Harris, and M.E. Noble (2002) Sediment transport on the Palos Verdes shelf over seasonal to decadal time scales. Continental Shelf Research, 22(6-7): 987-1004.

Harris, C.K. and P.L. Wiberg (2001) A two-dimensional, time-dependent model of suspended sediment transport and bed reworking for continental shelves. Computers and Geosciences, 27 (6): 675-690.

Harris, C.K. and R.P. Signell (1999) Circulation and sediment transport in the vicinity of the Hudson Shelf Valley. Estuarine and Coastal Modeling; Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference. M.L. Spaulding, H.L. Butler (editors), American Society of Civil Engineers. 380-394.

Signell, R.P. and C.K. Harris (1999) Modeling sand-bank formation around a tidal headland. Estuarine and Coastal Modeling; Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference. M.L. Spaulding, H.L. Butler (editors), American Society of Civil Engineers. 209-222.

Harris, C.K. and P.L. Wiberg (1997) Approaches to quantifying long-term continental shelf sediment transport with an example from the northern California STRESS mid-shelf site. Continental Shelf Research, 17(11): 1389-1418.

Wiberg, P.L. and C.K. Harris (1994) Ripple geometry in wave-dominated environments. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99 (C1): 775-789.

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Current Students

  • Aaron Bever, M.S. Student
  • Yanxia (Peony) Ma, Ph.D. Candidate
  • J.Paul Rinehimer, M.S. Candidate
  • Student opportunities


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Past Students

  • Aaron Bever, M.S., 2006. Physical processes behind delta propagation and flood layer dynamics: Po River, Italy.
  • Tara Kniskern, Ph.D. 2007. (co-advised with Steve Kuehl). 

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Courses Taught or Teaching

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Other Educational Activities

  • Chair, Academic Status and Degrees Committee

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Faculty and Student Awards

  • 2007 – Present  Alumni Memorial Term Distinguished Associate Professor, College of William and Mary
  • 1998 – 2001 U.S.G.S. Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 1996 NASA Global Climate Change Fellow
  • 1995 Governor's Fellowship, University of Virginia
  • 1990 - 1992 Dupont Fellowship, University of Virginia

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Professional Membership Committees

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Collaborative Interdisciplinary Activities

  • Impact of sediment resuspension and sediment bed processes on formation of hypoxic areas in the Gulf of Mexico as part of NGOMEX. Collaborators include Rob Hetland (TAMU), Katja Fennel (Dalhousie), and Steve DiMarco (TAMU).
  • Working to upscale event-timescale sediment transport and depositional processes for incorporation into stratigraphic timescale models as part of Margins Source-to-Sink. Collaborators include Drs. Jesse McNinch (VIMS) and John Swenson (U. Minnesota, Duluth).
  • Incorporating biological processes into sediment resuspension calculations as part of MUDBED. Collaborators at VIMS include Drs. Carl Friedrichs, Steve Kuehl, Linda Schaffner, Bob Diaz, and Jesse McNinch. We are also working with Dr. Larry Sanford (UMCES).
  • Linking oceanographic, atmospheric, and geologic models in the Adriatic Sea with Drs. Julie Pullen, Jim Doyle (both at NRL-Monterey), and Rich Signell (SACLANT-CEN)

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Last modified September, 2007