Prof Gerd Masselink is a Professor in Coastal Geomorphology at the University of Plymouth (UoP) and is a world-leading coastal scientist with >160 refereed journal publications (GoogleScholar h-index >70) and >25 years' experience in collecting and analysing coastal and nearshore morphodynamic data. He is also the co-director and founder of the Coastal and Marine Applied Research (CMAR) consultancy group within the University of Plymouth and has been the academic lead on the majority of the 150 consultancy projects CMAR has been involved with since 2015.  

Gerd did his MSc degree in Physical Geography at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) from 1984 to 1990, and completed his PhD in Marine Science at Sydney University (Australia) in 1994. After a 4-year postdoc at the University of Western Australia, he started as a Lecturer at Loughborough University (UK) in 1998. Since 2005, he has been working at Plymouth University, first in the School of Geography, then in the School of Marine Science and Engineering, and currently in the School of Biological and Marine Sciences.

Gerd has been (or is) a PI/CI on 20 UK research council funded projects, all involving shoreline dynamics and nearshore sediment transport processes, and has been (or is) involved with supervision of 36 coastal PhD students. Currently, Masselink is: (1) Deputy-PI on the NERC-funded #gravelbeach project; (2) Plymouth lead on the EA-funded Making Space for Sand project; and (3) PI on the EPSRC-funded ARISE project, investigating the impact of sea-level rise on atoll islands. The total value of these grants (Plymouth component) is just over £4M.

Apart from his role as academic and his position as a world-leading coastal scientist, Gerd is co-director of the Coastal Marine Applied Research (CMAR; https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/cmar) consultancy group and leads the 50-member strong, internationally leading Coastal Processes Research Group (CPRG; https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/coastal-processes). He is extremely experienced in project management and leading teams of academics, students and consultants. CMAR consultancy projects are always informed by the latest science and models, and the consultancy aims to support the appropriate management of coastal, marine and estuarine resources and activities. Key themes of the consultancy projects are coastal resilience and coastal adaption to climate change, and clients include the Environment Agency, National Trust, Natural England, Coastal Councils and environmental consultancy groups (Jacobs, JBA, Haskoning).

2025–current Ahmed Mahid – Wave transformation on coral reefs and implications for coastal defence on atoll islands

2024–current Tom Hamilton – Morpho-sedimentary-dynamics of gravel beaches (DoS)

2024–current Sam Rose – Application of LiDAR to wave runup in coral reef environments (based at Bath, UK)

2024–current Lamese Saamu – Impact of extreme storms on atoll islands in the Pacific

2024–current Wassim Seksaf – Role of regional sediment connectivity in coastal resilience

2024–current Nidia Tobon – Hydrodynamic response of atoll island aquifers to coastal factors and sea level rise

2023–current Rima Harahap – Coastal dynamics analysis for predicting marine disaster in outermost small islands of Indonesia (DoS)

2023–current Ahmed Aslam Waheed – Natural adaptation of coral reef islands to sea-level rise offering opportunities for ongoing human occupation (DoS)

2023–current Ashley Holsclaw – Hydrodynamics and sediment transport associated with coral reef platforms and atoll islands

2023–current Aitana Gea Neuhaus – Sediment provenance, budget and pathways associated with atoll islands

2023–current Floortje Roelvink – Natural adaptation of coral reef islands to sea-level rise offering opportunities for ongoing human occupation (DoS)

2022–current Liane Brodie – Coastal Dune Dynamics Across Cornwall, UK (DoS)

2022–withdrawn Madeline Gee – ‘Shifting Seas – Ecological adaptation to changing rates of Sea Level Rise (no completion)

2020–2025 Aikaterina Konstantinou – Satellite-based shoreline detection along high-energy macrotidal coasts and influence of beach state

2019–2024  Josie Alice-Kirby – Application of Coastal Change Management Areas (CCMAs) for coastal adaptation to climate change impacts in SW England (DoS)

2021–2022  Oak McMahon - Natural adaptive capability of coral reef islands to sea-level rise and implications for future human occupation (DoS) (no completion)

2017–2022  Anna Persson – Physical drivers of nursery function in juvenile flatfishes (no completion)

2016–2021  Erin King – Modelling sediment exchange between the beach and the inner continental shelf

2016–2020  Paul Bayle – Coastal resilience under sea-level rise (based at Bath, UK)

2016–2020  Mark Wiggins – Coastal cell response to a changing wave climate using autonomous aerial surveying

2016–2019  Megan Tuck – Dynamics of coral reef islands (based at Auckland, New Zealand)

2015–2019  Nieves Garcia Valiente – Sediment exchange between beach and inner shelf (DoS)

2014–2018  Olivier Burvingt – Beach response to extreme storms along the SW coast of England (DoS)

2015–2017  Rafael Jesús Bergillos – Multi-scale dynamics of mixed sand and gravel deltaic coasts (based at Granada, Spain)

2013–2017  Sebastian Pitman – Automatic Rip Current Detection (based at Southampton, UK)

2013–2017  Kris Inch – Extreme storm dynamics on sandy beaches

2011–2015  Claire Early – Field observations of wave induced coastal cliff erosion, Cornwall, UK (DoS)

2011–2015  Pedro Almeida – Swash Zone Dynamics of coarse-Grained Beaches during Energetic Wave Conditions (DoS)

2011–2015  Robert McCall – Modelling gravel beach storm response using XBeach (DoS)

2011–2014  Anissia White – Managing the Retreat: Understanding the Transition to Salt Marsh in Coastal Realignment Project

2010–2016  Antony Thorpe – Sediment Dynamics in Rip Currents

2010–2014  Saul Reynolds – Tidal Dune Dynamics (no completion)

2009–2013  Suha Zoozi – Estuarine Pollution Dynamics in Agricultural River Basins

2008–2012  Tim Poate – Impact of Wave Hub on Shoreline Processes and Beach Morphology

2007–2011  Alison Nock – An ARC Marine Decision Support System for Coastal Flooding (no completion)

2007–2010  Amaia Ruiz de Alegria Arzaburu – Measuring and Modelling Annual, Seasonal and Storm-Induced Morphological Response on a Gravel Beach (DoS)

2006–2010  Tim Scott – Classification of UK Beaches and Associated Nearshore Hazards (DoS)

2004–2008  Daniel Buscombe – Morpho-Sediment Dynamics of Gravel Beaches (DoS)

2002–2005  Martin Austin – Swash, Groundwater and Sediment Transport Processes on Gravel Beaches (DoS)

2000–2004  Darren Evans – Swash on Steep and Shallow Beaches (DoS)

2000–2004  Selma van Houwelingen – Spatial and Temporal Variability in Ridge and Runnel Morphology along the North Lincolnshire Coast, England (DoS)

2000–2004  Aafke Tonk – Longshore Sediment Transport on Low-Energy Beaches (DoS)

• OS314 - Ocean Science residential field trip - Module Leader
• MAR515 - Management of Coastal Systems (MSc) - Module Leader
• SCI5301 - MSc Dissertation