Dr Ron Hoeke

Ron is an interdisciplinary scientist within the Environment BU’s Climate Intelligence (CI) program, with a focus coastal dynamics and associated natural hazards.

Ron joined CSIRO in November 2010. His research interests include the interaction of physics, geomorphology and ecology in the littoral zone, and how these factors will impact humans in a changing climate. Prior to joining CSIRO, Ron studied coastal barrier island change as part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project and helped establish an inter-disciplinary NOAA/University of Hawaii coral reef monitoring program for Pacific Islands. He completed a PhD at James Cook University in 2011, focused on better understanding circulation, water quality and sedimentation of coral reefs, through a NOAA, US Geological Survey and Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) partnership.

Now part of CI's Coastal Extremes Modelling & Projections (CEMP) team, Ron research areas include:

• Prediction of high-resolution littoral-zone dynamics at both weather and climate timescales
• Coastal hazard and extreme value analysis
• Hybrid modelling: mixing numerical dynamic models with machine learning algorithms
• Marine renewable energy: resource mapping and impact of wave energy converters on local hydrodynamics
• Communicating science, particularly the principles of risk and uncertainty as related to hazards and climate change