Dr Eric Wolanski ~ Adjunct Professor

Dr. Eric Wolanski is a coastal oceanographer and ecohydrologist. He is linking physics and biology in estuarine, coastal, reef and savannah ecosystems. He has 402 publications, including the two recent books:

• E. Wolanski (2014). Estuaries of Australia in 2050 and Beyond. Springer, Dordrecht, 292 pp.
• E. Wolanski & M. Elliott (2015). Estuarine Ecohydrology - An Introduction. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 310 pp.

and two Elsevier books in final stages of preparation: "Coastal Wetlands. An Integrated Ecosystem Approach' (G. Perillo, E. Wolanski, D. Cahoon and C. Hopkinson) and "Coasts and Estuaries. The Future' (E.Wolanski, J. Day, R. Ramachandran and M. Elliott).

He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.), and l'Academie Royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer (Belgium). He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal for services in estuarine and coastal oceanography, a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, a 2nd Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Hull in the UK, a Queensland Information Technology and Telecommunication award for excellence, and the first LifeTime Achievement Award of the Estuarine & Coastal Science Association (ECSA).

Eric is a member of the Scientific and Policy Committee of Japan's EMECS (Environmental Management of Enclosed Seas, focusing on the Seto Inland Sea) and of the European Union DANUBIUS-PP Scientific and Technical Advisory Board (STAB; see www.danubius-ri.eu; http://danubius-pp.eu), which will be a pan-European distributed research infrastructure dedicated to interdisciplinary studies of large river–sea systems throughout Europe.

Eric is the Honourary Editor of  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, a Chief Editor of Wetlands Ecology and Management and the Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, and a member of the editorial board of "Journal of Marine Systems", "Journal of Coastal Research",”Continental Shelf Research” and “Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology”

Since 1994 he has been running in Tanzania for Tanzania National Parks Authority yearly ecohydrology field training workshops with ecologists of the Serengeti, Katavi, Arusha, Nkomazi, Ruaha, Tarangire and Saadani National Parks, which are all either suffering or threatened by a water crisis.

Citation indices:

• Citations: 17487 
• h-index: 72
• i10-index: 230

Interests

Research

• estuarine, coastal and reef oceanography: field data collection and modelling the systems. Quantifying and modeling the physics-biology links enabling the self-recruitment and the connectivity of estuarine and marine fauna and flora (jellyfish, coral and fish, prawns, mangroves, seagrass, marine turtles,..)
• modeling the environmental impact of dams, mine tailings, dredging, dredge spoil dumping, heavy metals and land-clearing in estuarine and coastal waters including mangroves, seagrass and reefs; studying through field work and modeling the spread of the Fly River plume in the Gulf of Papua and Torres Strait.
• modeling lagoon, estuarine, coastal, mangrove and reef ecosystems. Applications to eutrophication in the Guadiana Estuary (Portugal) and Darwin Harbour (Australia), coral reef management in Maunalua Bay (Hawaii) ,fisheries in Chilika Lagoon (India) and Laizhou Bay (China)
• modeling cohesive sediment (mud) dynamics in estuarine and coastal waters
• modelling the transport and fate of ghost nets, macro- and micro-plastics in coastal waters; modeling the recruitment, connectivity and biophysics of fish larvae, juvenile jellyfish, coral larvae, coral fish larvae, box jellyfish, green and flatback turtle hatchlings, copepods, and temperate estuarine fish larvae. Modelling the self-seeding and connectivity within Micronesia for grouper fish.
• modeling tropical savannah ecohydrology and applications to Serengeti, Ruaha, Katavi, Saadani and Tarangire National Parks in Tanzania, in collaboration with Tanzania National Parks.
• modelling the nutrient budget for turbid estuaries with applications to the Guadiana, Hooghly, Wami and Yangtze estuaries, Chilika lagoon and Laizhou Bay and others).
• modeling the water circulation in the topographically complex Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Bohai Strait in China. Modelling the over-heating of the northern GBR and Torres Strait during the 2016 bleaching event.

Experience

• 2008 to 2017 - Adjunct Professor, JCU (Townsville)
• 1978 to 2007 - Lead Research Scientist, AIMS (Townsville)
• 1976 to 1978 - Hydrologist, SMEC (Cooma, NSW)
• 1974 to 1976 - Hydrologist, NSW State Pollution Control Commission (Sydney)

Research Disciplines

• Political Science (1606)
• Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience (0406)
• Environmental Science and Management (0502)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Climate and Climate Change (9603)
• Economic Framework (9199)
• Ecosystem Assessment and Management (9605)

Awards

• Australian Centenary medal for services in estuarine and coastal oceanography, Australia.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa from the catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
• Queensland Information Technology and Telecommunication award for excellence, Australia.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, University of Hull, UK.
• First LifeTime Achievement Award of the Estuarine & Coastal Science Association (ECSA)

Fellowships

• The Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.)
• Académie Royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer (Belgium).
• Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Australia.

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Gouezo M, Golbuu Y, Fabricius K, Olsudong D, Mereb G, Nestor V, Wolanski E, Harrison P and Doropoulos C (2019) Drivers of recovery and reassembly of coral reef communities. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 286 (1897).
• Kihwele E, Muse E, Magomba E, Mnaya B, Nassoro A, Banga P, Murashani E, Irmamasita D, Kiwango H, Birkett C and Wolanski E (2018) Restoring the perennial Great Ruaha River using ecohydrology, engineering and governance methods in Tanzania. Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology, 18 (2). pp. 120-129
• Kiwango H, Njau K and Wolanski E (2018) The application of nutrient budget models to determine the ecosystem health of the Wami Estuary, Tanzania. Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology, 18 (2). pp. 107-119
• Li Y, Wolanski E, Dai Z, Lambrechts J, Tang C and Zhang H (2018) Trapping of plastics in semi-enclosed seas: insights from the Bohai Sea, China. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 137. pp. 509-517
• Schlaefer J, Wolanski E, Lambrechts J and Kingsford M (2018) Wind conditions on the Great Barrier Reef influenced the recruitment of snapper (Lutjanus carponotatus). Frontiers in Marine Science, 5.
• Schlaefer J, Wolanski E and Kingsford M (2018) Swimming behaviour can maintain localised jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri: Cubozoa) populations. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 591. pp. 287-302
• Delandmeter P, Lambrechts J, Marmorino G, Legat V, Wolanski E, Remacle J, Chen W and Deleersnijder E (2017) Submesoscale tidal eddies in the wake of coral islands and reefs: satellite data and numerical modelling. Ocean Dynamics, 67 (7). pp. 897-913
• Li Y, Martins F and Wolanski E (2017) Sensitivity analysis of the physical dynamics of the Fly River plume in Torres Strait. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 194. pp. 84-91
• Wildermann N, Critchell K, Fuentes M, Limpus C, Wolanski E and Hamann M (2017) Does behaviour affect the dispersal of flatback post-hatchlings in the Great Barrier Reef? Royal Society Open Science, 4. pp. 1-15
• Wolanski E, Andutta F, Deleersnijder E, Li Y and Thomas C (2017) The Gulf of Carpentaria heated Torres Strait and the Northern Great Barrier Reef during the 2016 mass coral bleaching event. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 194. pp. 172-181
• Wolanski E (2017) Bounded and unbounded boundaries – untangling mechanisms for estuarine-marine ecological connectivity: scales of m to 10,000 km – a review. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science , 198 (B). pp. 378-392

Book Chapters

• Jennerjahn T, Gilman E, Krauss K, Lacerda L, Nordhaus I and Wolanski E (2017) Mangrove ecosystems under climate change. In: Mangrove Ecosystems: A Global Biogeographic Perspective - Structure, Function and Services. Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 211-244

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 147+ research outputs authored by Dr Eric Wolanski from 2001 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Improving our understanding of the population dynamics of cubozoans jellyfishes with biophysical modelling. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Recruitment and genetic population genetics of spiny lobsters, Panulirus ornatus and P. homarus in the south-east Asian archipelago (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Using hydrodynamic models to understand the impacts and risks of plastic pollution (2018, PhD , External Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit the JCU Research Data Catalogue.

• Wildermann, N. (2017) Metadata to run the SLIM model to simulate flatback post-hatchling dispersal in the Great Barrier Reef. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.