Eric Wolanski
- eric.wolanski@jcu.edu.au
- Adjunct Professor
Projects
0
Publications
157
Awards
5
Biography
Dr. Eric Wolanski is a coastal oceanographer and ecohydrologist. He is linking physics and biology in estuarine, coastal, reef and savannah ecosystems. He has 430 publications, including six recent books:
- Wolanski, E., Kingsford, M.J. (2024). Oceanographic Processes of Coral Reef. Physical and Biological Links in the Great Barrier Reef. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, 458 pp.
- Paris, C. B., Wolanski, E., eds. (2020). The Importance of Behavior in the Recruitment of Marine Fauna and Flora. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88963-501-6
- Wolanski, E., Day, J., Elliott, M., Ramesh, Ramachandran (2019). Coasts and Estuaries. The Future. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 701 pp.
- Perillo, G.M.E., Wolanski, E., Cahoon, D.R., Hopkinson, C.S. (2019). Coastal Wetlands. An Integrated Ecosystem Approach. Springer 2nd ed., Dordrecht, 1097 pp.
- E. Wolanski & M. Elliott (2015). Estuarine Ecohydrology - An Introduction. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 310 pp.
- E. Wolanski (2014). Estuaries of Australia in 2050 and Beyond. Springer, Dordrecht, 292 pp.
Eric is an Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier book series "Ecohydrology from catchment to coast" that details the ecohydrology issues and their solutions for important river basins worldwide. Books have now been published about the ecohydrology from catchment to coast of the Murray-Darling River Basin in Australia, the Mekong River Basin in SE Asia and the Nile River Basin in Africa, the Danube River Basin in Central Europe, the Kerala Rivers in India, and the large Indian Rivers. Books about other river basins worldwide, including Tanzania and Japan, are being written.
Since 1994 Eric has been running in Tanzania for Tanzania National Parks Authority yearly ecohydrology field training workshops with ecologists of the Serengeti, Katavi, Arusha, Mkomazi, Ruaha, Rubondo, Tarangire and Saadani National Parks, which are all either suffering from or threatened by a water crisis. See: Mnaya, B., Elisa, M., Kihwele, E., Kiwango, H., Kiwango, Y., Ng’umbi, G., Wolanski, E. (2021). Are Tanzanian National Parks affected by the water crisis? Findings and ecohydrology solutions. Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology 21, 425-442.
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.
Honours: Eric 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 a LifeTime Achievement Award of the Estuarine & Coastal Science Association (ECSA). Eric is Honourary Editor of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, a Chief Editor of Wetlands Ecology and Management and of the Elsevier book series Ecohydrology from catchment to coast.
Citation indices:
- Citations: 27854
- h-index: 92
- i10-index:271
Research
Research Interests
- 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
- modeling tropical savannah ecohydrology and applications to Serengeti, Ruaha, Katavi, Saadani and Tarangire National Parks in Tanzania, in collaboration with Tanzania National Parks.
- 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. Oceanographic chaos in the Galapagos, the South China Sea, the Coral Sea and Micronesia. See https://mediasite.jcu.edu.au/Mediasite/Play/65138ef3785648c3afc2ad7c942e399f1d
- 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, ...)
- 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.
- modelling the nutrient budget for turbid estuaries with applications to the Guadiana, Hooghly, Wami and Yangtze estuaries, Chilika lagoon and Laizhou Bay and others).
Research Data
Teaching
Research Advisor Accreditation
Advisor Type
Primary