NC State Professor Roy He is the Chair of the 2017 Coastal Ocean Dynamics Gordon Research Conference, which took place at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, from June 11-16, 2017. The scientific program of the 2017 Coastal Ocean Dynamics GRC featured novel and recent developments in the fundamental understanding of coastal ocean processes and their prediction capability. Here the term “coastal” refers to estuarine, littoral zone, continental shelf, and shelf break regions, including mesoscale exchange processes with the adjacent deep-ocean or marginal seas. Detailed information on 3-dimensional oceanic dynamics is vital to the stewardship of our marine resources and the safe conduct of maritime activities.
Improved process understanding and modeling capabilities are a major asset to researchers and workers addressing goals of the several major scientific plans, especially (i) climate adaptation and mitigation in the estuarine, coastal and littoral zones, (ii) understanding the linkages between the upper ocean mixed layer and waves to weather prediction, (iii) sustaining healthy and productive marine ecosystems, and (iv) evaluating the impacts of human activities on the resiliency of coastal communities and economies.
It is worth noting that the 2017 Coastal Ocean Dynamics GRC is the first merged conference of two long-term conference series: Coastal Ocean Circulation GRC that was begun in 1993 and has been convened every 4 years since 1995; and the Coastal Ocean Modeling GRC, convened since 1999 on a complementary, staggered 4-year cycle. In addition to the Kenan Institute, support is being provided by the GRC and NASA and pending from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, and US Geological Society and several marine science industry partners.