Contact info

Office: 211 Marine Centre Wales     Phone: 01248 382803

Email: m.austin@bangor.ac.uk

Web: Google Scholar     ResearchGate     ORCID

Twitter: @mart_austin

I am an observational oceanographer and specialise in the hydro- and morpho-dynamics of the inter-tidal and shallow sub-tidal regions of the coastal ocean. My present research at Bangor includes:

• The turbulent flow dynamics around sub-sea cables that causes seabed scour and subsequent cable failure. This ESPRC-funded research works in collaboration with three industry partners from the Marine Renewable Energy sector. It aims to reduce costs within the industry, where cable failures in 2014-17 cost the sector £250M.  
• The dynamics of large-scale turbulent motions in tidally energetic regions. This EPSRC- and NRN-funded work seeks to quantify large-scale turbulent motions and assess the impacts on tidal energy extraction and infrastructure. Observational field experiments are being undertaken in the Menai Strait and around north Wales, and include industry collaborators from UK, Europe and the USA.
• WASP - Waves Across Shore Platforms. EPSRC-funded grant investigating wave attenuation processes across rocky shore platforms at multiple sites across the UK and New Zealand to produce a new numerical modelling tool.
• Nearshore inter- to sub-tidal sediment exchange caused by the interaction of wave-driven nearshore currents, tidal currents and cross-shelf currents. This is linked to the Crown Estates Anglesey Tidal Test Site, with particular interest in nearshore sub-sea cable pathways, and encompasses field measurements of the full water column velocity, turbulence and sediment profiles. Autonomous Coastal Observatory buoy units are being deployed to support this work in  spring 2018.

I graduated from Plymouth University in 2002 with a BSc in Ocean Science and completed my PhD in gravel beach morphodynamics at Loughborough University in 2005. I have subsequently been a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at: Plymouth University (2005 - 2007, Cross-shore sediment transport on sandy beaches); Loughborough University (2007, Dust generation on an Arctic pro-glacial flood plain); before returning once again to Plymouth (2007 - 2010, Impacts of offshore wave energy arrays on seabed and shoreline processes; and 2010 - 2013, Dynamics of rip currents and implication for beach safety).  Research Areas

• Sediment Dynamics and Morphology
• Ocean Physics