Norris, B.K., Mullarney, J.C., Bryan, K.R., Henderson, S.M., 2020, Relating Millimeter-scale Turbulence to Meter-scale Subtidal Erosion and Accretion across the Fringe of a Coastal Mangrove Forest: Earth Surfaces Processes and Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.5047.
Benjamin K Norris
My research interests span coastal, estuarine, and riverine settings, with a broad focus on the interplay of hydrodynamics (currents, waves, turbulence), morphodynamics (sediment transport), and coastal ecosystems (mangroves, coral reefs).
Biography
Dr. Benjamin Norris is a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Oceanographer with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center. His expertise spans coastal, estuarine, and riverine settings, with a focus on nearshore processes, wave dissipation, turbulence, sediment transport, and the hydrodynamics of aquatic vegetation. His research interests include the development of “green infrastructure”, or nature-based solutions for mitigating coastal hazards and erosion. His Mendenhall project focuses on modeling wave dissipation across coral reefs at sub-meter scales, with the purpose of developing cost-effective coral reef restorations to enhance the protective capacity of degraded reef ecosystems. Benjamin is skilled in field observation, remote sensing (GIS), computer programming (Matlab, Bash/Linux, C++), and numerical modeling (OpenFOAM, Delft3D).
Education:
2019: Ph.D. Earth Sciences – University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
2017: B.S. Earth Sciences – UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California USA
Work Experience:
2020 – Present: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Scholar, U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, California USA
2019 – 2020: Eco-Hydrologist I, cbec eco-engineering, Sacramento, California USA
2018 – 2019: GIS Specialist, University of Waikato, Hamilton New Zealand
2018: Lecturer, University of Waikato, Hamilton New Zealand
2012 – 2014: Junior Specialist, U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, California USA
Science and Products
Date published: October 15, 2021
Status: Active Science Seminar Series
Welcome to the Pacific Coastal Marine Science Center (PCMSC) Seminar Series! Our seminars are on the first and third Tuesday of every month, usually from 10:00 – 11:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 - 2:00 pm Eastern) via Microsoft Teams. Please check each seminar announcement closely, as times may change.
In addition, we also co-host a special “Coastal Change Hazards” seminar on the...
Contacts: Nora Nieminski, Benjamin K Norris
Date published: September 21, 2021
Status: Completed Science Seminar Series Archives
A list of past science seminars hosted by the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California
Contacts: Nora Nieminski, Benjamin K Norris
Attribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Date published: September 7, 2021
Status: Active Coral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
Attribution: Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Region 12: Pacific Islands (American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Year Published: 2015
Hindcast storm events in the Bering Sea for the St. Lawrence Island and Unalakleet Regions, Alaska
This study provides viable estimates of historical storm-induced water levels in the coastal communities of Gambell and Savoonga situated on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, as well as Unalakleet located at the head of Norton Sound on the western coast of Alaska. Gambell, Savoonga, and Unalakleet are small Native Villages that are regularly...
Erikson, Li H.; McCall, Robert T.; van Rooijen, Arnold; Norris, BenjaminAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
View Citation
Erikson, L.H., McCall, R.T., van Rooijen, A., and Norris, B., 2015, Hindcast storm events in the Bering Sea for the St. Lawrence Island and Unalakleet regions, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015‒1193, 47 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151193.
Year Published: 2015
The influence of grain size, grain color, and suspended-sediment concentration on light attenuation: why fine-grained terrestrial sediment is bad for coral reef ecosystems
Sediment has been shown to be a major stressor to coral reefs globally. Although many researchers have tested the impact of sedimentation on coral reef ecosystems in both the laboratory and the field and some have measured the impact of suspended sediment on the photosynthetic response of corals, there has yet to be a detailed investigation on how...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Norris, Benjamin; Rosenberger, Kurt J.Attribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Year Published: 2014
Measurements of slope currents and internal tides on the Continental Shelf and slope off Newport Beach, California
An array of seven moorings housing current meters and oceanographic sensors was deployed for 6 months at 5 sites on the Continental Shelf and slope off Newport Beach, California, from July 2011 to January 2012. Full water-column profiles of currents were acquired at all five sites, and a profile of water-column temperature was also acquired at two...
Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Noble, Marlene A.; Norris, BenjaminAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
View Citation
Measurements of slope currents and internal tides on the Continental Shelf and slope off Newport Beach, California; 2014; OFR; 2014-1041; Rosenberger, Kurt; Noble, Marlene A.; Norris, Benjamin K.
Pre-USGS Publications
Norris, B.K., Mullarney, J.C., Bryan, K.R., Henderson, S.M., 2019, Turbulence within Natural Mangrove Pneumatophore Canopies: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, 2263–2288. DOI: 10.1029/2018JC014562.
Norris, B.K., Mullarney, J.C., Bryan, K.R., Henderson, S.M., 2017, The effect of pneumatophore density on turbulence: a field study in a Sonneratia-dominated mangrove forest, Vietnam: Continental Shelf Research, 147, 114–127. DOI: 10.1016/j.csr.2017.06.002.
Mullarney, J., Henderson, S.M., Norris, B.K., Bryan, K.R., Fricke, A.T., Sandwell, D.R., 2017, A question of scale: How turbulence around aerial roots shapes the seabed morphology in mangrove forests of the Mekong Delta: Oceanography, 30, 34–47. DOI: 10.5670/oceanog.2017.312.
Mullarney, J.C., Henderson, S.M., Reyns, J.A.H., Norris, B.K., Bryan, K.R., 2017, Spatially varying drag within a wave-exposed mangrove forest and on the adjacent tidal flat: Continental Shelf Research, 147, 102–113. DOI: 10.1016/j.csr.2017.06.019.
Henderson, S.M., Norris, B.K., Mullarney, J.C., 2017, Wave-frequency flows within a near-bed vegetation canopy: Continental Shelf Research, 147, 91–101. DOI: 10.1016/j.csr.2017.06.003.
Liénard, J., Lynn, K., Strigul, N., Norris, B.K., Gatziolis, D., Mullarney, J.C., Bryan, K.R., Henderson, S.M., 2016, Efficient three-dimensional reconstruction of aquatic vegetation geometry: Estimating morphological parameters influencing hydrodynamic drag: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 178, 77–85. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2016.05.011.