Rose V. Palermo, Ph.D.
Rose Palermo is a coastal geomorphologist who studies the coupled natural-human coastal system. Specifically, she focuses on 1) barrier island evolution under changes in sea-level and wave climate, 2) how these geomorphic changes influence coastal management decisions, such as beach nourishment or artificial dune building, and 3) how the management actions in turn influence barrier morphodynamics.
My research interests broadly include coastal evolution and morphodynamics, long-term island stability, and coastal community resilience. At the USGS, I develop and use reduced complexity models to study long-term barrier island evolution and the feedbacks between coastal morphodynamics, coastal management decisions, and external forcings.
Science and Products
Modeling Barrier Island Evolution, Shoreface Morphology, and Overwash
Barrier island field observations provide information about past and current environmental conditions and changes over time; however, they can’t tell us about the future. Models can predict possible future behaviors but are only as good as their input data. By integrating both observations and models, we can extend observations and arrive at more realistic predictions of barrier island behavior...
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF)
Sediments are the foundation of coastal systems, including barrier islands. Their behavior is driven by not only sediment availability, but also sediment exchanges between barrier island environments. We collect geophysical, remote sensing, and sediment data to estimate these parameters, which are integrated with models to improve prediction of coastal response to extreme storms and sea-level rise...
Science and Products
Modeling Barrier Island Evolution, Shoreface Morphology, and Overwash
Barrier island field observations provide information about past and current environmental conditions and changes over time; however, they can’t tell us about the future. Models can predict possible future behaviors but are only as good as their input data. By integrating both observations and models, we can extend observations and arrive at more realistic predictions of barrier island behavior...
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF)
Sediments are the foundation of coastal systems, including barrier islands. Their behavior is driven by not only sediment availability, but also sediment exchanges between barrier island environments. We collect geophysical, remote sensing, and sediment data to estimate these parameters, which are integrated with models to improve prediction of coastal response to extreme storms and sea-level rise...