Keynote Speakers

Coasts and Ports 2009 will feature three keynote speakers who will speak over the three days:

Associate Professor Ron Cox
School of Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales

Presentation Title: Climate change, impacts, vulnerability and adaptation options for coastal regions and ports

Overview: Most Australians, New Zealanders and our neighbours in and around the Pacific live within 50kms of the coast in the area most vulnerable to predicted climate change in temperature, rainfall, sea level and extreme weather. The presentation by Ron Cox will focus on climate change, impacts, vulnerability and adaptation options (including engineering, planning, social and policy) related to coastal cities and towns and ports. The importance and inter-relationships between impacts and adaptation options for major infrastructure (including energy, water, stormwater and flooding, transport communications) will be incorporated - providing an update for professional engineers, scientists, coastal and port managers on the status of research and the development of appropriate adaptation responses.

Biography: In more than 30 years as a project engineer, academic and eventual Director of the Water Research Laboratory at University of NSW, Ron has led research, investigation and design teams for projects in every state and territory in Australia and many others around the world. He has chaired Engineers Australia’s National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering and in that role was involved in developing coastal engineering Guidelines for responding to climate change

In January 2009, Ron took up a new position at UNSW as the National Convenor for the Federal Government funded Australian Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Settlements and Infrastructure and is a member of the team that has drafted for government the National Adaptation Research Plan for Settlements and Infrastructure.

Ron Cox was awarded Engineers Australia’s prestigious Sir John Holland Award for Civil Engineer of the Year 2008 in recognition of his long standing and continuing contribution to the profession and community, particularly in the field of coastal engineering.

Gary La Grange
President and CEO, Port of New Orleans

Presentation Title: Rebuilding the Port of New Orleans



Overview: On Aug. 29th 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans causing 80% of the city to flood. The Port of New Orleans opened within two weeks of the catastrophe, even though the city itself remained closed to its residents at that time. What lessons did New  Orleans learn from its recovery and how can its experiences help protect coastal and port areas worldwide?

Biography: Gary LaGrange has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of New Orleans since 2001 and has been in numerous leadership positions at state, regional and national levels. He received his B.A. in Geography/Economics and completed an M.A.(Hons) in Urban Planning at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette in 1975. He also taught Economic Geography and Urban Planning at the University.

During Gary LaGrange’s tenure, the Port of New Orleans has opened new state-of-the art container and cruise terminals. Also notably, his leadership brought the Port of New Orleans back into operation within two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the most extensive natural disaster in U.S. history. As well as being named the Maritime Person of the Year by the Propeller Club of New Orleans in 2003 and the Maritime Person of the Year by the Propeller Club of the Port of Gulfport in 2001, he received the “Man of Steel” Award by the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) in 2006 for his administration of the Port of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Tarmo Soomere
Professor of Coastal Engineering Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

Presentation title: Using wave and current dynamics to find solutions to the challenges of environmental change



Overview:The complexity of processes affecting coasts and ports in times of environmental change and the need to ensure environmental health requires the joint efforts of experts from different fields to understand the nature of the changes and to derive effective solutions to the inevitable problems. In coastal situations, a useful measure of the magnitude of some of the changes can be found in the properties of the wave field. A change to these properties may result in intricate spatial and temporal changes to coastal dynamics and these may be completely different in areas separated by only a few hundred kilometers, as will be demonstrated from observations of wave climate changes in the Baltic Sea basin. Some changes may lead to substantial increases in the frequency and/or magnitude of hazards such as coastal flooding or rogue (freak) waves.
 
A selection of examples from recent advances in fundamental research into the dynamics of various phenomena in the marine environment will be discussed from the viewpoint of port and coastal engineering. Waves from high-speed ships are frequently considered with respect to their effects on the coastal environment, structures, and with respect to safety. They have, however, great potential for use as a small-scale model for studies of extremely dangerous phenomena such as landslide-induced tsunamis, rogue waves, and run-up and overtopping by storm waves. As vessel waves frequently have larger periods than typical wind waves and/or approach from an unusual direction, their impact on beaches is a useful tool allowing quantification of the reaction of coasts under changed forcing factors and wave climate. Another environmental challenge is the existence of semi-persistent current patterns in many sea areas. Frequently, unfavorable currents bring oil spills to the beaches or carry damaged vessels towards rocks. However, through the smart placement of fairways and offshore activities, favorable current patterns can be used to provide protection to coasts and vulnerable sea areas.

Biography: Tarmo Soomere is Professor of Coastal Engineering and Head of Wave Engineering Laboratory in the Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. He graduated from Lomonossov Moscow State University as a Mathematician and subsequently received a PhD in Oceanology from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow and the degree of Doctor of Mathematics from Tartu University, Estonia. He has held research positions in Germany and Sweden and he has published widely in international scientific journals.

His scientific interests have been mostly in general wave matters, with applications in Rossby wave, internal wave and surface wave theory and modeling, including wave-driven coastal processes and hazards. He also has an interest in smart applications of the dynamics of coastal phenomena, including ship wakes and coastal currents, in coastal hazards work. Tarmo Soomere was declared as the Person of the Year in Estonia 2005 by daily newspaper Postimees (The Postman) for his contribution to the forecast of a devastating storm.