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Michael Itzkin, Ph.D.

Michael Itzkin is a Research Geologist and Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. 

I joined the USGS in 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow where I use numerical modeling, remote sensing data, and machine learning tools to understand how beaches and dunes evolve over time and as a result of extreme water levels. I also use these models to assess new ways to predict and validate total water level forecasts.

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. - Geology, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, 2021

  • B.A. - Geology, Stony Brook University, 2016

Science and Products

Modeling total water level and coastal change at Pea Island, North Carolina, USA

The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) was carried out on Pea Island, North Carolina, USA between September-October 2021. We use a coupled numerical model (Windsurf) to hindcast the evolution of the DUNEX transect and produce a time series of hourly water levels at the shoreline from the model output. In addition to assessing the ability of Windsurf to reproduce TWL, we use model output pai

Authors
Michael Christopher Itzkin, Margaret Louise Palmsten, Mark L. Buckley, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jenna A. Brown, Jin-Si R. Over, Peter A. Traykovski
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Combining process-based and data-driven approaches to forecast beach and dune change

Producing accurate hindcasts and forecasts with coupled models is challenging due to complex parameterizations that are difficult to ground in observational data. We present a calibration workflow that utilizes a series of machine learning algorithms paired with Windsurf, a coupled beach-dune model (Aeolis, the Coastal Dune Model, and XBeach), to produce hindcasts and forecasts of morphologic chan
Authors
Michael Christopher Itzkin, Laura J. Moore, Peter Ruggiero, Paige A. Hovenga, Sally D. Hacker
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of Mexico
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Science and Products

Modeling total water level and coastal change at Pea Island, North Carolina, USA

The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) was carried out on Pea Island, North Carolina, USA between September-October 2021. We use a coupled numerical model (Windsurf) to hindcast the evolution of the DUNEX transect and produce a time series of hourly water levels at the shoreline from the model output. In addition to assessing the ability of Windsurf to reproduce TWL, we use model output pai

Authors
Michael Christopher Itzkin, Margaret Louise Palmsten, Mark L. Buckley, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jenna A. Brown, Jin-Si R. Over, Peter A. Traykovski
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Combining process-based and data-driven approaches to forecast beach and dune change

Producing accurate hindcasts and forecasts with coupled models is challenging due to complex parameterizations that are difficult to ground in observational data. We present a calibration workflow that utilizes a series of machine learning algorithms paired with Windsurf, a coupled beach-dune model (Aeolis, the Coastal Dune Model, and XBeach), to produce hindcasts and forecasts of morphologic chan
Authors
Michael Christopher Itzkin, Laura J. Moore, Peter Ruggiero, Paige A. Hovenga, Sally D. Hacker
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of Mexico
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center