Prof. Robert Nicholls is an expert on understanding climate risks and adaptation. Much of his work has focused on responding to sea-level rise and climate change, necessitating an interdisciplinary approach. A distinctive dimension has been consideration of the coastal zone in system terms, facilitating policy analysis. He has led a series of large multi-million pound projects including the Tyndall Coastal Simulator[1], the NERC-funded iCOASST[2] (Evolving coastal geomorphic sediment systems), the ESPA Deltas[3] and DECCMA[4] projects on deltas, mainly in Bangladesh. He currently leads the OpenCLIM[5] (Open CLimate IMpacts modelling framework Project) and contributes to the European PROTECT and CoCliCo on coastal risks and climate services. He has extensive international experience, especially in coastal cities, deltas and small islands, advising national governments (e.g., UK, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Singapore, the Maldives) and intergovernmental organisations (e.g., OECD) on climate change and coastal issues. He was a lead author to five reports of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment process, a review editor to the fifth IPCC assessment and a contributing author to recent the IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere[6] (2019). He currently co-leads the World Climate Research Programme Sea-Level Rise Grand Challenge[7] to deliver sea-level science to support better coastal impact and adaptation assessment and is a member of the ASCE/COPRI Coastal Engineering Research Council[8].
Major Awards and Honours
● Convening Lead Author coastal chapter for IPCC AR4 (2007). IPCC was jointly awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
● Roger Revelle Medal (2008) by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Executive Council for outstanding contributions to ocean sciences.
● Highly Cited Researcher (2019 and 2020), Web of Science
●‘Hot list’ of the world’s 1,000 most influential climate scientists (2021), Reuters
Career History
● 2019 - Present. DIRECTOR of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and PROFESSOR of Climate Adaptation, University of East Anglia
● 2004 to 2019. PROFESSOR of Coastal Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Southampton
● 2000 to 2003. PROFESSOR, Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University
● 1996 to 2000. READER, Middlesex University
● 1994 to 1996. SENIOR LECTURER, Middlesex University
● 1990 to 1994. RESEARCH FELLOW, Laboratory for Coastal Research, University of Maryland
● 1987 to 1990. RESEARCH FELLOW, Institute of Marine Studies, University of Plymouth
Selected Publications
● Nicholls, R.J., Lincke, D., Hinkel, J. et al (2021) A global analysis of subsidence, relative sea-level change and coastal flood exposure. Nature Climate Change, 11, 338-342.[9]
● Townend, I.H., French, J.R., Nicholls, R.J. et al (2021) Operationalising Coastal Resilience to Flood and Erosion Hazard: A Demonstration for England. Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146880[10]
● Nicholls, R.J., Hanson, S.E., Lowe, J.A., Slangen, A,B.A., Wahl, T., Hinkel, J., Long, A.J. (2021), Integrating new sea-level scenarios into coastal risk and adaptation assessments: an on-going process. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, DOI: 10.1002/wcc.706[11]
● Marcinko, C., Nicholls, R.J. et al (2021) The Development of a Framework for the Integrated Assessment of SDG Trade-Offs in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, Water, 13 (4) pp. 528. DOI:10.3390/w1304052[12]
● Nicholls, R.J., Adger, W.N., Hutton, C.W. and Hanson, S.E. (Eds) (2019) Deltas in the Anthropocene, Palgrave, ISBN 978-3-030-23516-1, 282pp.[13]
● Nicholls, R.J., Hutton, C.W., Adger, W.N., Rahman, M., Salehin, M. and Hanson, S.E. (Eds) (2018) Ecosystem services in deltas - Integrated assessment for policy analysis, Palgrave, ISBN 978-3-319-71093-8, 539pp. [14]
● Nicholls, R.J., French J.R. and van Maanen, B. (Eds.) (2016) Simulating Decadal Coastal Morphodynamics, Geomorphology, 256, 1-90.
● Hall, J.W., Tran, M., Hickford, A. and Nicholls, R.J. (Eds.) (2016) The Future of Infrastructure Systems, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 1107066026, 338pp.[15]
● Nicholls, R.J., Whitehead, P., Wolf, J., Rahman, M. and Salehin, M. (Eds.) (2015) Themed Collection: ESPA Deltas (The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta system: biophysical models to support analysis of ecosystem services and poverty alleviation), Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 17, 12 papers.[16]
● Nicholls, R.J., Dawson, R. and Day, S. (Eds.) (2015) Broad scale coastal simulation: new techniques to understand and manage shorelines in the third millennium, Springer, ISBN-13: 978-9400752573.
● Zanuttigh, B., Nicholls, R., Vanderlinden, J-P., Thompson, R. and Burcharth, H. (eds.) (2014) Coastal Risk Management in a Changing Climate, Elsevier, ISBN: 9780123973108, 670pp.[17]
● Kremer, H., Nicholls, R.J., Ratter, B.M.W., Weisse, R. (Eds.) (2013) Risk and Management of Current and Future Storm Surges, Springer, ISBN 978-94-007-6712-6
- ^ Mokrech, Mustafa; Hanson, Susan; Nicholls, Robert J.; Wolf, Judith; Walkden, Mike; Fontaine, Corentin M.; Nicholson-Cole, Sophie; Jude, Simon R.; Leake, James; Stansby, Peter; Watkinson, Andrew R.; Rounsevell, Mark D. A.; Lowe, Jason A.; Hall, Jim W. (2011-09-01). "The Tyndall coastal simulator". Journal of Coastal Conservation. 15 (3): 325–335. doi:10.1007/s11852-009-0083-6. ISSN 1874-7841.
- ^ "iCOAST - iCOASST; integrating COASTal Sediment Systems". www.icoasst.net. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "ESPA Deltas | Engineering | University of Southampton". www.southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "DECCMA, Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change; Migration and Adaptation". www.deccma.com. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "OpenCLIM - Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research". tyndall.ac.uk. 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate —". Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Grand Challenge on Regional sea Level Rise and Coastal Extremes". www.wcrp-climate.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Coastal Engineering Research Council". www.asce.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ Nicholls, Robert J.; Lincke, Daniel; Hinkel, Jochen; Brown, Sally; Vafeidis, Athanasios T.; Meyssignac, Benoit; Hanson, Susan E.; Merkens, Jan-Ludolf; Fang, Jiayi (2021-04). "A global analysis of subsidence, relative sea-level change and coastal flood exposure". Nature Climate Change. 11 (4): 338–342. doi:10.1038/s41558-021-00993-z. ISSN 1758-6798.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Townend, By I. H.; French, J. R.; Nicholls, R. J.; Brown, S.; Carpenter, S.; Haigh, I. D.; Hill, C. T.; Lazarus, E.; Penning-Rowsell, E. C.; Thompson, C. E. L.; Tompkins, E. L. (2021-08-20). "Operationalising coastal resilience to flood and erosion hazard: A demonstration for England". Science of The Total Environment. 783: 146880. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146880. ISSN 0048-9697.
- ^ Nicholls, Robert J.; Hanson, Susan E.; Lowe, Jason A.; Slangen, Aimée B. A.; Wahl, Thomas; Hinkel, Jochen; Long, Antony J. (2021-05). "Integrating new sea‐level scenarios into coastal risk and adaptation assessments: An ongoing process". WIREs Climate Change. 12 (3). doi:10.1002/wcc.706. ISSN 1757-7780.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Marcinko, Charlotte L. J.; Nicholls, Robert J.; Daw, Tim M.; Hazra, Sugata; Hutton, Craig W.; Hill, Chris T.; Clarke, Derek; Harfoot, Andy; Basu, Oindrila; Das, Isha; Giri, Sandip; Pal, Sudipa; Mondal, Partho P. (2021-01). "The Development of a Framework for the Integrated Assessment of SDG Trade-Offs in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve". Water. 13 (4): 528. doi:10.3390/w13040528. ISSN 2073-4441.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Nicholls, Robert J.; Adger, W. Neil; Hutton, Craig W.; Hanson, Susan E., eds. (2020). Deltas in the Anthropocene. Springer Nature.
- ^ "Assessing health, livelihoods, ecosystem services and poverty alleviation in populous deltas | Ecosystems Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA)". www.espa.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "The future of national infrastructure: A system-of-systems approach". OPSIS | Oxford Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ Nicholls, Robert J.; Whitehead, Paul; Wolf, Judith; Rahman, Munsur; Salehin, Mashfiqus (2015-06-10). "The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta system: biophysical models to support analysis of ecosystem services and poverty alleviation". Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. 17 (6): 1016–1017. doi:10.1039/C5EM90022K. ISSN 2050-7895.
- ^ "Coastal Risk Management in a Changing Climate - 1st Edition". www.elsevier.com. Retrieved 2023-03-16.