Graduate student Ernie (In Him) Lee has been awarded the prestigious Croucher Scholarship for Doctoral Study from the Croucher Foundation in Hong Kong. This award provides financial support for outstanding Hong Kong scholars who are looking to pursue scientific research at a doctoral level at leading institutions worldwide.

Lee is pursuing his doctorate degree in civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under the guidance of Heidi Nepf, the Donald and Martha Harleman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Lee received his Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Toronto, with a minor in Environmental Engineering, and certificate in Engineering business. He went on to receive his Master of Engineering (MEng) degree from the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the climate, environment, and sustainability track.

This award will support Lee’s continued research exploring the impacts of spatial heterogeneity and seasonal variations on the salt marsh wave attenuation performances. A published study estimated coastal marshes reduced flood damage during Hurricane Sandy in Northeastern USA by $625 million (Narayan et al., 2017). Therefore, quantification of the vegetation drag is crucial to evaluate coastal flood risks and other ecosystem services, such as marine ecosystem sustainability, soil erosion, and sediment transport dynamics for carbon stock.

To model vegetation drag, Lee will first develop drone-based techniques to efficiently survey plant characteristics in a field scale. These parameters will be used in a calibration-free vegetation drag model to predict the wave energy dissipation by salt marshes, hence predicting the wave height progression over a salt marsh.

“This recognition from the Croucher Foundation highlights the importance of Lee’s research,” says Professor Heidi Nepf. “This scholarship will enable him to further explore how salt marshes contribute to flood mitigation and ecosystem sustainability, providing invaluable insights for coastal resilience strategies.”