Scenic overlook on Catalina Island, location of USC's Marine Science Institute.
Faculty
The Sonny Asanti Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering maintains approximately 20 full time, tenured faculty. Within the coastal engineering specialty, there are three full time faculty and two research faculty. These researchers have a strong expertise in natural hazards, particularly tsunami and cyclones, but also work on topics such as fluid and wave mechanics, turbulence, and design of coastal infrastructure. Funding has been provided by numerous state and federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, NOAA Sea Grant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USGS, and CalEMA.
Below is a listing of the full time and research faculty with Coastal Engineering expertise @ USC:
Jose Borrero, Research Professor
Expertise: Tsunami hazards, field surveys and submarine landslides.
webpage: http://www.jocabo.net/
Patrick J. Lynett, Professor
Expertise: Numerical modeling of coastal processes; tsunami propagation and runup; wind wave evolution from deep to shallow water; sediment transport in the coastal zone; wave interaction with permeable structures such as breakwaters; internal waves; wave energy.
webpage: http://coastal.usc.edu/plynett
Costas Synolakis, Professor
Expertise: Prediction of tsunami inundation and other co-seismic hazards, breaking waves, wave runup, hydrodynamic pressures on dams and two-phase flow.
webpage: https://cee.usc.edu/directory/faculty/profile/?lname=Synolakis&fname=Costas