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a.k.a Papa Pelican 804-684-7191 |
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Research The overarching goal of my research in marine geology, which combines geophysical and hydrodynamic studies, is to gain insight on processes shaping coastal geomorphology and stratigraphy from event to geologic time scales. I believe a departure from traditional descriptive coastal geology to a more quantitative discipline is an important progression and is critical to the integration of geology with predictive models of shoreline and marine shoreface evolution. Linking processes with preserved geology over a range of time scales has challenged the field of marine geology since its infancy. Nevertheless, progress in this area is imperative to translate the geologic record into applicable lessons facing society such as hurricane/typhoon response, coastal flooding and subsidence, shoreline change, deforestation, and tsunamis. Although this “process geology” approach is certainly not exclusive to me, it is an important research niche that is ripe for expansion and one that, I believe, will serve me well for years to come. My primary research focus over the last several years has been linking framework geology with shoreface and shoreline processes and has generated support from the US Geological Survey, US Army Research Office, US Army Corps of Engineers and, most recently, National Science Foundation-Margins. The relevance of framework geology to coastal processes is widely recognized in the coastal research community – as exemplified by my publication in Marine Geology (McNinch, 2004) ranking in the top twenty most requested articles of that year. All of these studies, beginning with my early work on cuspate forelands, merge hydrodynamic and geophysical observations with numeric modeling to test process-based hypotheses. Sedimentary (McNinch and Wells, 1999) and physical (McNinch and Luettich, 2000) processes around cape-associated shoals were largely unknown prior to these studies and were shown to play an important role in barrier island evolution (McNinch, in review; McNinch et al., 1999) as well as in the export of carbon and nutrient-rich coastal waters to the outer-shelf. Another component of my research has combined process geology with marine archaeology (e.g. McNinch et al., 2006; McNinch and Wells, 2001). Though these results are not well suited for traditional marine geology journals, our findings made significant contributions to the marine archaeology community and demonstrated a wide breadth of scientific application that found support from the Department of Defense (related to scour and burial of objects), NOAA, and Sea Grant. I am confident that the recent collaborative projects in New Zealand (Waipaoa River – NSF-Margins; Waiapu River – NSF-MG&G) will continue to yield worthy contributions in our understanding of source-to-sink relationships and scaling (e.g. Wadman and McNinch, in review; Addington, Kuehl and McNinch, in review). As well, I recently developed a new tool for measuring nearshore sandbars and swash morphology during storms using a mobile radar (McNinch, 2006). Imaging shallow bedforms during storm events has been extremely challenging and has greatly limited the community’s understanding of nearshore sedimentary processes during time periods that are considered the most influential. I believe this technology will provide tremendous insight to nearshore sediment transport and shoreline/shoreface response during storms and will likely provide a rich resource for future publications.
Education My educational contributions entail mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and offering a variety of geology-related courses (Figure 3). I have developed a field-intensive course in Coastal Sedimentary Environments (MS552) that is cross-listed for attendance by William and Mary geology undergraduates and VIMS graduate students. In addition, I co-teach with S. Kuehl an undergraduate class in Marine Geology (GEO238) and regularly guest lecture in VIMS’ graduate core courses (MS501 & 502). I have also recently developed a lecture and laboratory course for shallow, reflection geophysics (MS 698 - fall 2006) and a class on remote sensing in the nearshore (Spring 2006). Lastly, I will take over the laboratory component of the MS502 core course in spring 2007. My lecture style and classroom presence have been well received, and I have enjoyed the positive feedback given by many of my students. I have served as major advisor to six graduate students, two of whom have graduated with M.S. degrees (C. Schupp, A. Browder). Ms. Miselis is a Ph.D. candidate in her final year of study (Fall 2006) while two students (H. Wadman, L. Kraatz) joined my program with M.S. degrees and are in the early stages of their dissertation work. K. Brodie joined my program this fall (M.S. student), and I have mentored a post-doc for the past two years (J.Y. Park).
Service I continue to broaden my service to the general research community by reviewing more journal submissions and proposals. Most noteworthy was my participation in a recent NSF-MG&G proposal review panel in 2005. The number of invited talks is also included as an indicator of professional service and, when combined with reviews and panel service, shows a steady increase consistent with my growth in the research community (Figure 4). I am also active in public outreach through participation with VIMS-sponsored activities such as Marine Science Day and Development Office public lectures. Although the requests from Advisory Service at VIMS have been minimal, my expertise and equipment have been provided for several state-related seafloor mapping projects, and I am serving as the VIMS representative on the committee considering oil and gas exploration in Commonwealth waters. |