Jon Woodruff (right) and students study coastal estuaries.
This past winter in New England was one for the record books in terms of coastal flooding; Portland, Maine recorded extreme high-water levels not experienced since the infamous Blizzard of 1978.
University of Massachusetts associate professor Jon Woodruff will give a talk called “High Water, Extreme Floods, and Coastal Systems” at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 20 in Brooke Hall at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, at 193 Clarks Cove Road, Walpole.
Woodruff will discuss how changes in tides, sea level, and storm activity have influenced flooding in the region over the last two centuries. He evaluated the impacts of 2018 storm events on beaches, marshes, and estuaries in southern New England, highlighting the important role of storms in governing the evolution of coastal landscapes over time.
Woodruff, a faculty member in the UMass Department of Geosciences, specializes in sediment dynamics in coas
tal, estuarine, and fluvial systems, studying how storms and floods are recorded within the geologic record.
Woodruff’s talk is part of the Darling Marine Center’s science seminar series. The free, public Friday seminars provide opportunities to discuss current marine research.
Go to dmc.umaine.edu/seminars to preregister and for the list of other featured speakers and topics. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, call 563-3146.
Founded in 1965, the Darling Marine Center’s mission is to connect people to the ocean. The center’s researchers, staff, and students work alongside fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs, marine industry professionals, and other members of the community in Maine and around the world. More information is available at dmc.umaine.edu.
