Research

I am (approximately) a coastal engineer, and my research focuses on the hydrodynamics and geomorphology of wetlands, estuaries, and bays. I am particularly interested in sediment transport and process-based habitat restoration in the context of extensive human modification, sea level rise, and climate change. Novel techniques for observing, quantifying, and representing these environmental systems get me excited.

Photo looking over San Francisco Bay from shore on a bright, sunny day. Crouched on a rocky breakwater in the foreground, my hands are in the water to sampleto sample the water.

I work primarily in the field, using in-situ observations and sensors to capture information from the landscape. To extend the application of these findings, I explore larger spatial and temporal scales using remote sensing data and occasionally numerical models.

Outside of technical questions, I am energized by cultural theory and historical ecology around bodies of water, environmental stewardship, and infrastructure. I aim to think trans-disciplinarily and humanistically! I collect and organize lots of information from my life at are.na/lukas-w.

Outreach to young people and those who live near the water I study is important to me. I channel my energy mostly through City Surf Project and Wild Oyster Project in San Francisco.

I got my B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Brown University, then M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from the University of California (Berkeley) working with Mark Stacey and Jessie Lacy (USGS). Afterwards, I had postdoc positions in Laurel Larsen’s Environmental Systems Dynamics Lab and then Fernando Jaramillo’s Hydrogeodesy Lab, focusing on hydrology and landscape change of large freshwater wetland complexes.

Google Scholar

(email me if you want anything!)

Photo of a dry marshland with mudflats and mountains in the background. I am standing in the foreground, taking notes in a small notebook, with fog hovering in the distance.

(photos by Nate Zack)