Plymouth University to host global coastal research conference

The largest worldwide gathering of coastal science researchers will convene at Plymouth University next week for an international conference on how climate change is affecting our coastal zones.

The 12th International Coastal Symposium will bring together 500 of the world’s leading experts from 38 different nationalities for a week-long event to discuss the latest developments in science, and differing responses to the challenges posed by changing weather patterns.

Titled ‘Coastal Environments and Global Change', the conference includes sessions on topics such as coastal evolution, coastal hazards, extreme storms and marine renewable energy. It will also leave the confines of the conference floor to take delegates on field trips to sites of interest in Devon and Cornwall.

Professor Gerd Masselink, of Plymouth University’s School of Marine Science and Engineering, and lead on the organising committee, said: “The latest advances in science will be presented at the conference, but the meeting will also provide a forum for discussing, comparing and contrasting the approaches used by different countries to combat, mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts in the coastal zone.

“We’re expecting 500 delegates, which represents a ringing endorsement by the international community of the lead role Plymouth plays in this arena.”

The conference, which is held in a different country every two years, will run from 8 to 12 April, and is being organised by the University’s Coastal Processes Research Group, which is part of the University’s Centre for Research in Coastal and Ocean Science and Engineering (CCOSE), and its Marine Institute.

The keynote speakers at the conference will be: Professor Colin Woodroffe, a coastal geomorphologist from University of Wollongong, Australia; Professor Marcel Stive, Professor of Coastal Engineering and Department Head of Hydraulic Engineering at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; and Dr Edith Gallagher, a physical oceanographer from Franklin and Marshall College, United States.

In addition to the conference sessions, delegates will have the opportunity to visit a number of sites in the South West, including beaches such as Perranporth on the North Cornwall shore, where the University has been conducting extensive research on rip currents, as well as South Devon, and Plymouth Sound. They will also receive tours of the University's recently opened Marine Building, complete with state of the art wave tanks and ship simulator.

Professor Paul Russell, Head of Research at CCOSE, said that the record attendance could bring an estimated £500,000 into the local economy. He added: “This response represents unprecedented demand from coastal researchers worldwide to come and present their work in Plymouth, and further highlights the University’s internationally leading reputation in coastal research.”

Proceedings of ICS2013 will appear as printed volumes in a special issue of the Journal of Coastal Research published by the Coastal Education & Research Foundation (CERF).

More information can be found on the ICS website at: http://ics2013.org/