New staff member: Alissa Albrecht

Allisa Albrecht is a new staff member at the department of Hydraulic Engineering. In this article, She introduces herself shortly:

I will be a guest researcher at TU Delft in the Hydraulic Structures/Flood Risk department for nine months as part of the Netherlands-America Foundation (NAF)/Fulbright Flood Management Fellowship.  In May, I graduated from Arizona State University with my BSE in Civil-Environmental Engineering and a minor in Urban Planning.  My main research interest is how salt marshes and other vegetated foreshores can be used as nature-based flood defenses.  I lived on the Atlantic coast of Florida for 18 years until I left for university, so I experienced many hurricanes as a child and the devastation that comes with them.  In recent years, Florida and other vulnerable areas of the United States have experienced extreme flooding from storm surge when hit by large storms, a trend that will continue as the planet warms and sea levels rise.  Being in the Netherlands is a great opportunity to learn how communities can live with the threat of flooding and also use natural features to protect themselves.  The Dutch approach differs greatly from the way that risk management and flood prevention is approached in the US, and I am excited to learn as much as I can.  While at Delft, I will be using Delft3D and XBeach to create models of a site in the Chesapeake Bay region showing how coastal salt marshes at the site attenuate waves.  Hopefully, this research will help demonstrate how salt marshes and other coastal vegetation can be used effectively.