By Megan Sam and Sharon Ryan
In a massive wave tank at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Alberto Canestrelli, Ph.D., observes oyster reef breakwaters as they respond to simulated tides.
An associate professor of civil and coastal engineering, Canestrelli is testing how different reef designs perform under a range of wave and tidal conditions. With the help of wave generators, a recirculating beach system and advanced sensors, he can replicate the complex forces that shape real coastlines — revealing which designs are most effective at protecting and restoring shorelines.
This hands-on work is just one example of the growing partnership between ERDC and the University of Florida’s Center for Coastal Solutions (CCS), a partnership that continued to grow during a productive visit in July. Over the course of two days, CCS researchers explored cutting-edge tools, gained insight into ERDC’s experimental and computational methods, and exchanged ideas on modeling environmental systems and testing engineering solutions.
The visit also reaffirmed a shared mission: combining academic innovation with applied engineering to deliver smarter, more scalable strategies for protecting U.S. coastlines.
“Together, we are uniquely positioned to advance the field in transformative ways, developing and delivering coastal resilience strategies that are science-based, field-ready and built to last,” Amanda Tritinger, Ph.D., deputy manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering With Nature® Program, said.
The visit also marked the launch of a new 5-year, $7 million Engineering With Nature® project to restore degraded wetlands and dunes led by Andrew Altieri, Ph.D., CCS’ interim director. By applying nature-based solutions, such as adding sediment to marshes, the team will track how these landscapes change and develop strategies to slow, halt or even reverse their decline.
Education is a central focus of the growing collaboration between UF and ERDC, formalized by a five-year Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA). During an interactive workshop, teams from both institutions brainstormed ways to bring the EPA to life, discussing a wide range of student opportunities — from mentorship by ERDC scientists to hands-on experience with world-class research facilities. These experiences aim to connect what students learn in the classroom to real-world problem solving.
Ideas for future initiatives included hackathons, joint fieldwork and professional training programs for both UF students and ERDC staff. Among the projects already in development are a capstone course where UF senior students will work on real-world engineering challenges provided by ERDC, and a class at UF taught by Julie Rosati, Ph.D., ERDC’s former technical director for Civil Works R&D and for Flood and Coastal Risk Management R&D.
“Partnerships are a portal through which people, resources and expertise can travel,” Andrew Altieri, Ph.D., interim director of the CCS, said. “The visit went a long way towards creating and opening that doorway. Together, we can create new programs, projects and initiatives that neither of us could accomplish alone. In doing so, we’ll expand our reach to serve a much broader community of engineers and scientists.”
Looking ahead, UF CCS and ERDC plan to connect researchers across overlapping fields to strengthen technical collaboration, launch joint curricula for graduate students and working professionals, and build mentorship pipelines that guide talent from classroom to career.
These efforts are fueled by the complementary strengths of each institution: “ERDC brings mission-driven application, global-scale modeling capabilities and unmatched federal infrastructure, while CCS brings academic innovation, interdisciplinary depth and deep roots in Florida’s coastal systems,” Tritinger said.