August 20, 2025 Excited to announce that Dr. Chang has received a new NSF grant to study wave–current–vegetation interactions through laboratory flume experiments. This project will advance understanding of coastal hydrodynamics and contribute to the science of resilient coastlines. 👉 Read the full story in Rhody Today: https://lnkd.in/ekdXXQ7N

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August 4, 2025 Dr. Chang participated in the NSF NHERI RAPID Facility 2025 Intensive Training Workshop (July 22-25, 2025) to learned how to use the RAPID Facility for pre- and post-event field data collection. It was also a great opportunity to connect with others in the hazard and resilience research community and learn about new […]

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Dr. Chang received the Coastal Engineering Journal (CEJ) Citation Award 2024 for a widely cited review paper on how coastal forests protect against tsunami, storm surge, and wind waves.

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July 30, 2025 Felipe Espinoza successfully defended his MS thesis in Ocean Engineering today! His research brought together numerical modeling and lab data analysis to study wave attenuation by mangroves — great work on a challenging topic! Well done, Felipe! 👏 🌊 Big thanks to the committee and faculty for their support:Drs. Nick Pizzo, Chris […]

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June 15, 2025 Check out our new paper on a field experiment studying the critical wave conditions that lead to mechanical failure of Rhizophora stylosa mangroves! The field study tested the physical limits of mangrove resistance under wave forcing — an important step toward designing nature-based coastal defenses. Congrats to the team! 🎉 “Field experiment […]

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April 21, 2025 Shoutout to our URISE students for presenting their research at the Undergraduate Research Showcase during E-Week 2025! Presentation title: The Effect of Rigid and Flexible Vegetation on Waves, and Sediment Transport in a Sloped Beach Environment Alex, Chris, Eleni, Heather, and Kitara shared their wave flume experiments investigating how coastal vegetation influences […]

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April 10, 2025 We were thrilled to welcome Prof. Kuang-An Chang from Texas A&M University as our invited speaker for this week’s Ocean Engineering Seminar! Prof. Chang gave a fantastic talk on “Application of Image-Based Methods for Wave-Structure Interaction and Nearshore Ocean Surface Dynamics Assessment,” sharing valuable insights from his research and experiences in both […]

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January 15, 2025 Check out our new paper using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations to study how realistic mangrove models can reduce breaking wave forces on coastal structures. This work highlights the potential of nature-based designs in mitigating extreme wave impacts on coastal infrastructure. This work was led by Dr. Shengzhe Wang from the University […]

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January 14, 2025 Dr. Chang has been appointed as a Senior Fellow of the Coastal Institute (CI) at the University of Rhode Island! The CI supports interdisciplinary research and engagement focused on coastal resilience, environmental sustainability, and science-informed policy. See the LinkedIn post here. Excited to be part of this collaborative community!

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