James Hench

James Hench
Duke University

    I am a physical oceanographer with research interests in shallow-water circulation characterized by unsteadiness, strong advective accelerations, and frictional boundary layers that occupy much or all of the water column. I am also interested in the effects of stratification on shallow flows. Currently I am working on several projects including: wave-driven circulation and exchange in coral reef, lagoon, and pass systems; understanding the effects of rough bottoms such as corals on circulation and scalar mixing; and the impact of stratification on circulation and tidal exchange in a freshwater tidal river. 

    I also have a strong interest in interdisciplinary problems that have a significant physical component such as: larval fish transport, small-scale shear effects on phytoplankton, selective tidal-stream transport, sponge excurrents, and the effects of wave forcing on corallivory. 

    Nicholas School Marine Laboratory
    135 Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516 USA