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INSTRUCTORS:
Dennis G. Lambert
Tye Fitzgerald
Thomas Dunlop
Mark A. Rotolo
Jun-Nyeong Park
Course Length: 1 hour
Purpose and Background
These presentations were recorded at the International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2026.
Lake Lery Marsh Creation & Rim Restoration Phase III: Cost-Benefit Under the FMA Program (14 minutes)
This presentation examines a large-scale marsh creation and shoreline restoration project in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, funded through FEMA's Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program. Participants will learn how marsh restoration projects can be evaluated using benefit-cost analysis to support federal funding applications. The session discusses project design features including marsh creation using dredged material, armored shoreline protection, and long-term elevation targets. Attendees will explore how ecosystem services, flood damage reduction, and risk mitigation benefits were quantified. The presentation highlights lessons learned from previous restoration phases and explains how those lessons influenced project design. Engineers will gain insight into FEMA eligibility requirements and methodologies for evaluating the economic benefits of nature-based solutions. The findings demonstrate how coastal restoration can serve as a cost-effective flood mitigation strategy.
Mangrove Response to Extreme Events Guides Restoration Design (14 minutes)
This presentation investigates how different mangrove restoration approaches respond to extreme environmental conditions over a five-year restoration period. Participants will learn about natural regeneration, seedling planting, and sapling planting strategies and their relative performance under waves, flooding, drought, and storms. The session presents a coupled ecological-hydrodynamic modeling framework developed for Avicennia marina mangroves. Attendees will examine how propagule availability, seedling size, hydrodynamic forcing, and storm frequency influence restoration outcomes. The presentation discusses the importance of considering extreme-event exposure during restoration planning rather than focusing solely on normal conditions. Engineers and coastal managers will gain practical guidance for selecting restoration strategies based on site-specific hazards. The findings support more resilient and sustainable mangrove restoration projects.
Laboratory Observations of Frequency Dependent Wave Dissipation by Emergent Vegetation (13 minutes)
This presentation explores how vegetation dissipates wave energy differently across the wave spectrum and why frequency-dependent attenuation should be considered in coastal engineering design. Participants will learn how wave frequency, wave steepness, vegetation density, and vegetation morphology affect dissipation performance. The session compares laboratory observations obtained from rigid cylinder arrays and mangrove-inspired vegetation structures. Attendees will examine differences between long-wave and short-wave attenuation behavior and their implications for predictive modeling. The presentation introduces frequency-resolved attenuation metrics and numerical modeling approaches that overcome limitations of traditional bulk attenuation coefficients. Engineers will gain insight into improving wave attenuation predictions for nature-based coastal protection systems. The findings support more physics-based design methodologies for vegetated coastal defenses.
A Numerical Study of Wave-Current-Vegetation Interaction in A Wave Flume (16 minutes)
This presentation examines advanced numerical simulation of wave attenuation in mangrove environments under combined wave-current conditions. Participants will learn how vegetation-induced dissipation is influenced by root complexity, inertia forces, flow velocities, and wave nonlinearity. The session presents enhancements to conventional vegetation models through application of Morison-type formulations and spatially varying vegetation coefficients. Attendees will explore comparisons between numerical results and laboratory experiments involving Rhizophora mangrove root systems. The presentation highlights differences between emergent and submerged vegetation conditions and their effects on wave attenuation efficiency. Engineers will gain practical understanding of how vegetation geometry and hydrodynamic forcing interact within nature-based coastal defenses. The findings contribute to more realistic simulation of vegetated coastal environments.
Benefits and Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain how benefit-cost analysis is applied to evaluate marsh restoration projects for flood risk reduction and federal funding programs.
- Discuss how extreme events and propagule availability influence the success of mangrove restoration strategies.
- Describe how wave frequency and vegetation morphology influence wave attenuation mechanisms in vegetated coastal systems.
- Explain how wave-current interactions, vegetation morphology, and flow velocity influence wave attenuation in mangrove systems.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-test assessment (true-false, multiple choice, and/or fill in the blank questions).
Who Should Attend?
- Coastal Engineer
- Civil Engineer
- Coastal Scientist
- Coastal Resilience Program Manager
- Government Coastal Zone Manager
- University Student or Researcher
How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 365 days of the course purchase.
How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?
1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]