Blog
Ocean Pools
Ocean Pools My family this Christmas were kind enough to give me a copy of “Ocean Pools”, a lovely collection of photos and stories of 75 pools in Australia. The authors are Chris Chen (photographer) and Marie-Louise McDermott (sports historian and Chairperson of All...
Protecting Nature: Art of the Impossible?
Protecting Nature: Art of the Impossible? In recent weeks governments around the world, including ours, have been striving to reach agreement on “protecting nature”. The UN summit held in Montreal aimed at reaching a global deal to secure the protection of 30 per cent...
Drainage Window Concept
Drainage Window Concept Every now and then a paper appears that catches the eye. I feel compelled to share my enthusiasm on one such paper. Over many years the Water Research Laboratory (WRL) of UNSW has been active in a range of estuary studies under the leadership...
Yorke Peninsula Coastal Forum
Yorke Peninsula Coastal Forum, 3 - 4 November 2022 The South Australian branch of the Australian Coastal Society (ACS) held a regional Coastal Forum at Marion Bay on the Yorke Peninsula on the 3rd - 4th of November, 2022. It was organised by Professor Patrick Hesp,...
Cootamundra Shoals Survey 1982
Cootamundra Shoals Survey 1982 Occasionally one embarks on something that is adventurous, a little crazy, intellectually and physically satisfying, but incomplete. Here I am outlining an experience that should have been properly written up yet for a variety of reasons...
US Coastal Zone Management Act 1972: A Model for Australia?
US Coastal Zone Management Act 1972: A Model for Australia? A week ago, I had the privilege of giving a plenary talk at the national climate change adaptation forum. I wish to thank Sarah Boulter for the kind invitation. It was a great occasion which brought together...
Great Barrier Reef—More or Less Gloom
Great Barrier Reef—More or Less Gloom It is painful these days to write about the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). I do so with considerable hesitancy, but a few things recently have again highlighted how much its future means to all of us. It was pleasing to hear the...
Bondi Pavilion Reopened and Rejuvenated
Bondi Pavilion Reopened and Rejuvenated On 21 September I was kindly invited by the Mayor of Waverley Council, Paula Masselos, to the reopening event of the Bondi Pavilion (the ‘Pav’). It was a night to remember and a joy to behold to see this grand structure enter...
Coastal Journey Begins: September 1962
Coastal Journey Begins: September 1962 My fascination with coastal geomorphology commenced as an undergraduate at University of Sydney as part of the Honours program in Geography 1959-1960. The question was what to do next. I had read enough literature to excite me to...
Protection For Sydney Harbour: Berrys Bay Case
Protection For Sydney Harbour: Berrys Bay Case A legal decision of great significance related to the protection of the natural heritage of Sydney Harbour has recently been made in a judgment by the Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court (Preston, CJ). The...
Coastal Inundation: A Hazard Not to be Underestimated
Coastal Inundation: A Hazard Not to be Underestimated Sixty years ago, I had my first encounter with overwash deposits resulting from storm surges along the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Louisiana and Texas. It was a revelation. I had just commenced graduate studies at...
Beach Access – An International Perspective
Beach Access - An International Perspective In the book edited by Derek Jackson and Andy Short on Sandy Beach Morphodynamics (Elsevier, 2020, I wrote on “Future challenges in beach management as contested spaces” (Ch.29, 711-731). Reference was made to a legal case in...