The purpose of the course is to introduce the students to state-of-the-art research on salt marshes, tidal flats and the broader Wadden Sea area.
The course will comprise lectures on salt marsh and tidal flat dynamics and accretion, carbon sequestration in tidal basins, short- and long-term response to sea level rise, interaction between biota and sediment and cohesive sediment dynamics.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:
• Estuarine sediment dynamics
• Cohesive sediment aggregation
• Salt marsh and tidal flat response to sea level rise
• Bio-geography of salt marshes and tidal flats
• Carbon sequestration in tidal basins

Skills:
• Sediment coring and core analysis
• Bio-geographical sampling
• Design and execution of hydrodynamic measurements
• Analysis of hydrodynamic data

Competences:
• Competence to design and execute a small field-based research project within the field of estuarine morphodynamics

Teaching and learning methods

The course will consist of a mixture lectures, field-work, supervised group projects and an excursion in the area. The morning sessions consists of lectures and the afternoon sessions will consist of field-work, laboratory work and work on group projects. These group projects (of about 4 participants) are small research projects and deal with a specific topic related to the summer course under supervision of an expert.
Participants who attend the course will also be expected to give a short presentation of their PhD project or their major research activities.

Type of assessment

The group projects will end with a 30 minute presentation of the outcome of the project which will be graded pass/no-pass

Guest lecturers

Prof. Daehyun Kim, Seoul National University, expert on bio-geography of salt marshes.
Dr. Andrew Manning, University of Plymouth, expert on cohesive sediment dynamics and flocculation.

Course fee, no-show fee, and cancellation

A course feed covering logistics and stay and meals at the Skallingen Laboratory will be charged

Target Group

PhD students within the field of Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Coastal Engineering, Geology, Biology.