Professor Courtney Harris is recognized for outstanding intellectual leadership in understanding of sediment transport in shelf and estuarine environments. Her work has yielded valuable insights into how sediment delivered by rivers is transported and dispersed across continental shelves, ultimately forming sedimentary stratigraphy. She has also demonstrated how sediment transport impacts interdisciplinary questions such as oil dispersal, nutrient cycling and hypoxia, and interpretation of radioisotope profiles. Professor Harris’ research has contributed new understanding of coastal processes in a variety of geographic locations around the world, from the coastal oceans of North America to the Adriatic Sea, to New Zealand, and elsewhere. In addition to her research contributions, Professor Harris has been a leader and champion in developing, demonstrating, and improving community open-source modeling capabilities. In addition to her contributions to the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and related models, Professor Harris was a founding group chair and executive community member of the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS). Professor Harris currently serves as Professor of Marine Science and Chair of the Physical Sciences Department at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, USA.
