Cristina Coker
Project: Hazards and drivers of coastal cliff retreat in England
Supervisors: Professor Akbar Javadi, Dr Steven Palmer and Dr Barend Van Maanen
Background
Cristina is undertaking her WISE CDT PhD project at the University of Exeter with interests in coastal change and flood risk management, remote sensing, resilience to climate change and the application of new technologies.
She previously studied an MSc in Applied Marine Science at Plymouth University where her dissertation involved understanding how a change in the main wave approach angle over the past century caused beach rotation at Slapton Sands, Devon. Cristina also has a BSc in Environmental and Land Planning Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. Her BSc dissertation was entitled ‘Geophysical surveys with the Ground Penetrating Radar at Palazzo Te (Mantua, Italy).’
Work Experience
Prior to joining the WISE CDT programme, Cristina spent a few years working as a Coastal Process Scientist at the Plymouth Coastal Observatory. This involved carrying out beach and coastal asset surveys with an RTK-GPS and Terrestrial Laser Scanner, as well as processing and analysing multiple data types such as topographic, LiDAR, bathymetric, aerial photography and wave data. Cristina was also involved in the development of the organisation’s website. As a result, Cristina has developed a strong professional network with stakeholders from Academia, Industry and Local Authority, including the Environment Agency, which she hopes to be able to implement during the course of her PhD.
Research Interests
- Coastal change
- Flood risk management
- Resilience to climate change
- Remote sensing
- Prevention of natural disasters
- Development of new technologies.
