Research Interests

My research is in the broad areas of hydrology and geographical information science, with a primary focus in the assessment of flood risk using computational modelling and geospatial analysis techniques. Currently I am working with LINZ and the CRC.SI on the implementation of federated spatial data infrastructures to facilitate real-time access to data which are critical for hazard risk management but which may be held by different agencies at a national, regional or local level in both the public and private sectors. Through this initiative, we can leverage these data to allow the rapid production of information for hazard management, such as the determination of the significance of measured or forecast rainfall, or the mapping of flood likelihoods.
Alongside this work, other ongoing projects include: (i) a national assessment of the New Zealand stopbank network, which is leading towards the assessment of the variable risk of failure during flood events; (ii) the development of a geospatial methodology for the rapid assessment of dam break consequence, work which builds on a recently-developed national inventory of dams; and (iii) the development of a geospatial data infrastructure framework for water pollution analyses in Christchurch. Previous projects have included the assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on flood risk and water resources in the Caribbean; the analysis of surface water hydrodynamics on a 300 km reach of the Amazon River in Brazil; and flood modelling work to support the development of the science specifications for a new joint French-U.S. satellite mission named SWOT (Surface Water & Ocean Topography), scheduled for launch in April 2021.