My research focuses on the physical mechanisms of exchange and stirring over the continental shelf.

Understanding the scales of vertical and horizontal mixing that bound the across-shelf movement of water and particles is a fundamental problem in coastal oceanography that has been limited by a lack of detailed observations to both evaluate theory and models and provide guidance for scientific progress. I use in situ and remotely sensed observations to expand our knowledge of turbulent coastal flows and the processes that govern exchange across the shelf.  These processes define the characteristics -- the temperature and salinity, the nutrient and pollutant concentrations, the retention of ocean life -- of the natural system present in the coastal ocean.

Exchange and stirring processes in the coastal ocean are small signals in a noisy, dynamic environment that require sustained observations to unravel.  I develop new tools to measure the coastal ocean and atmosphere and operate long term observatories to provide these measurements for both myself and others. The data I collect is a key component of our collective efforts to monitor the changing coastal zone and evaluate the implications of these changes on ocean ecosystems and ocean users.