Susan Meredith Howell

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
s.m.howell@vanderbilt.edu

B.S. Geography (Georgia Southern University), 2005
B.A. Geology, GIS Minor (Georgia Southern University), 2005

am a graduate student working with David Furbish and the Earth-Surface Dynamics and Fluid Mechanics Research Group. My research is focused on the eco-geomorphology of coastal salt marshes. Projects link the ecology, sedimentation, hydrodynamics, and engineering on tidal salt marsh platforms, aimed at understanding sediment transport, ecogeomorphic evolution of marsh platforms, responses of marsh platforms to sea-level changes, biogeochemistry and carbon sequestration in wetlands, the hydrodynamics of marsh inundation associated with astronomical and wind driven tides, and development of soft stabilization techniques for shoreline stabilization.

Earth-Surface Dynamics and Fluid Mechanics Group
Sedimentology Group

My research focuses on  coastal systems, including geomorphology and stratigraphy, salt marsh dynamics, natural and anthropogenic shoreline change, and resource management/policy. I utilize both field and analytical and numerical modeling tools to understand the fundamental physics of these systems. I am also interested in "soft" or "living" shoreline stabilization, noteably the physics of flow modification, ecological dynamics, and sedimentation resulting from oyster shell ridges.
 

Response of Coastal North Carolina Salt Marshes to Sea Level Change (NOAA)
This project is aimed at understanding the geomorphology and response of tidal saltmarsh plant communities to sea-level rise. The goal is achieved through development of a 2-D landscape model for Pamlico Sound, North Carolina coastal wetlands capable of forecasting changes in plant community composition and sediment accretion in response to tidal forcing and sea-level rise. Model parameter values are being derived from field experiments at Bogue Banks and Cedar Island, North Carolina, and from our existing studies at North Inlet, South Carolina.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Collaborators:
Jim Morris, University of South Carolina
Bob Christian, East Carolina University
Simon Mudd, University of Edinburgh
Don Cahoon, USGS

North Carolina Sea Level Rise Webpage


Stochastic description of salt-marsh inundation from mixed astronomical–wind driven tides, with implications for macrophyte growth

Organic Carbon Storage in Coastal Salt Marshes

Physical and Ecological Responses to Engineered Structures