Dr. Ioannis Georgiou, Director of Coastal and Deltaic Systems Modeling, brings a vast experience in the workings of the lower Mississippi River Delta to his projects at the Institute.
Georgiou collaborates on research projects internationally, though his primary research area has been the Mississippi River Delta, with recent projects such as the evolution of Louisiana barrier islands and inlets in response to coastal erosion and interior wetland loss, the response of bays and sounds to freshwater and sediment diversions, the exchange of water and sediment during storms along coastal systems, and the dynamics of saltwater intrusion in the lower Mississippi River and Delta.
Georgiou has led many modeling studies varying in complexity and scale and has authored numerous technical reports and peer-reviewed journal publications on surface processes operating in coastal Louisiana and the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Some of Georgiou’s more recent work with collaborators from Massachusetts and Virginia includes examining marsh sustainability in Plum Island Sound, MA, under future projections of sea-level rise, and resulting vulnerability of nearby communities, a project in south Brazil looking at how coastal systems respond to sea-level fall, as it has been in this area for thousands of years, quantifying the fate and transport of sediment during storms on marshes along the Atlantic seaboard from hurricanes (e.g., Irma) and nor’easters and storm-driven shoreline dynamics along Plum Island, MA.
In Louisiana, Georgiou’s work includes the Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring Program which aims to understand regional sediment trends through intensive collection and analysis of hundreds of sediment samples along the coast. Another project involves working with LSU collaborators, through Department of Interior funding, to unravel the controls and triggering mechanisms of underwater slides in the modern delta, while another project works to understand the geomorphic and economic benefits of using offshore sands for barrier island restoration projects.
Dr. Georgiou received his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, his master’s degree from University of New Orleans and Ph.D. from University of New Orleans. Before coming to the Institute, Georgiou was professor of Earth Sciences at the University of New Orleans and served as Director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences.