ALEX KOLKER

Associate Professor
akolker@lumcon.edu
985-851-2837

Education · Research Interests · Current Projects · Teaching · Research Group · Selected Publications

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., 2005, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
    Stony Brook University
  • M.A., 2000, Ecology
    Stony Brook University
  • B.A., 1995
    University of California, Santa Cruz

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am deeply interested in the ways that coastal systems function. At the coast, human and natural processes interact to produce a myriad of landforms and hydrodynamic conditions that are fascinating, beautiful, and both beneficial and dangerous to people. In my research group we seek to understand the dynamics that govern four major components of coastal change, climate change and sea-level dynamics, pathways of sediment and water transport, subsidence, and how human dynamics govern, and are governed by a changing coastal environment.  The researchers in my laboratory investigate these themes using tools from a range of disciplines including sedimentology, radioisotope geochemistry, climatology, oceanography, hydrology, and data science. During the 2019-2020 academic year, I am serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, Here I am examining sea level dynamics across North Africa and the Maritime Maghreb, and their impacts on Morocco’s coastal systems.

CURRENT AND RECENT PROJECTS

  • The impacts of the Mississippi River and its delta on the oceanography, ecology and economy of the Gulf of Mexico
  • Groundwater dynamics in the Mississippi River Delta
  • Spatial and temporal trends in subsidence in Louisiana
  • Impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands
  • Sedimentation rates in river-dominated coastal wetlands
  • Framework Development Team: Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast- 2017
  • Changing Course Design Competition, Team Studio Mizi-Ziibi
  • Sea level dynamics in North Africa and the maritime Maghreb
  • Response of wetlands in the Bouregreg River estuary to sea level change
  • LUMCON’s Growth and Planning Panel
  • Climate Dynamics of the Mississippi River plume

RESEARCH GROUP

  • Molly Keogh, Ph.D. Student (Tulane)
    • B.S., 2010, Geological Sciences
      University of Oregon
  • Catherine Fitzpatrick, M.S. Student (Tulane)
    • M.S., Physical, Chemical, and Geological Oceanography
      Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
    • B.A., Environmental Studies and Political Science
      Tulane
  • Celeste Woock, M.S. Student (University of New Orleans)
    • B.S., Geology
      University of Alabama

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Amer, R., Kolker, A.S., Muscietta, A., (2017). Propensity for erosion and deposition in a deltaic wetland complex: Implications for river management and coastal restoration. Remote Sensing of Environment 199: 39-50.
  • Peyronnin, N. Caffey. R.H., Cowan, J.H., Justic, D., Kolker, A.S., Laska, S. McCorquodale, A., Melanson, E., Nyman, J.A., Twilley, R.R., Visser, J.M.,      Wilkins, J.G., (2017) Optimizing sediment diversion operations: Working group recommendations integrating complex ecological and social landscapes. Water 9(6): 368; doi:10.3390/w9060368.
  • Telfeyan, K., Breaux, A., Kim, J., Cable, J.E., Kolker, A.S., Johannesson, K.H., ( 2017). Arsenic and vanadium biogeochemistry in a deltaic wetland, southern Louisiana, USA  Marine Chemistry. 192: 32-48.
  • Coleman, D.J., Kolker, A.S., Johannesson, K.H., (2016) Submarine groundwater discharge and alkaline earth dynamics in a deltaic coastal setting. Hydrology   Research. Nh201685.
  • Kirman, Z.D., Sericano, J.L., Wade, T.L., Bianchi, T.S., Marcantonio, F., Kolker, A.S., (2016). Composition and depth distribution of hydrocarbons in Barataria Bay marsh sediments after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Pollution 214, 101-113.
  • Jarrell, E.R., Kolker A.S., Campbell, C., Blum, M.J., (2016) Brackish marsh plant community responses to regional precipitation and relative sea-level rise. Wetlands. DOI 10.1007/s13157-016-0769-0.
  • Leonardi, N., Kolker, A.S., Fagherazzi, (2015). Interplay between river discharge and tides in a delta distributary. Advances in Water Resources. 80: 69-78.
  • Carey, J.C., Moran, S.B., Kelly, R., Kolker, A.S., Fulweiler, R.W., (2015). The declining role of organic matter in New England salt marshes. Estuaries and Coasts: 1-14.
  • Kolker, A.S., Li, C., Walker, N., Piley, C., Ameen, A. D., Boxer, G., Ullah, M,. and Ramatchandirane, C.G. (2014). The impacts of the great Mississippi/Atchafalaya River flood on the oceanography of the inner-continental shelf. Continental Shelf Research, 86:17-33.
  • Kolker, A.S., Li, C., Walker, N., Piley, C., Ameen, A. D., Boxer, G., Ullah, M,. and Ramatchandirane, C.G. (2014). The impacts of the great Mississippi/Atchafalaya River flood on the oceanography of the inner-continental shelf. Continental Shelf Research, 86:17-33.
  • Kolker, A.S., (2014). Time and Tide; A Review of Rising Seas: Past Present and Future by Vivien Gornitz. Biosicence. 64(1): 69-70.
  • Wilson, C.A., Hughes, Z.J., Fitzgerald, D., Hopkinson, C., Valentine, V., Kolker, A.S., (2014). Saltmarsh pool and tidal creek ,orphodynamics: Dynamic equilibrium of northern latitude saltmarshes? Geomorphology, 213: 99-115.
  • Wang, Z., Liu, Z., Xu, K., Mayer, L.M., Zuliun, Z., Kolker, A.S., Wu W. (2014). Concentrations and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface coastal sediments of the northern Gulf of Mexico, Geochemical Transactions, 15(2): 1-12.
  • Allison, M.A., Kolker, A.S., Meselhe, E. (2013). Water and sediment dynamics through the wetlands and coastal water bodies large deltaic river plains. pp 21-57 in Biogeochemical dynamics at major river-coastal interfaces: Linkages with Global Change, Cambridge University Press. 658 pp.
  • Rosenheim B.E., Roe K.E., Roberts B.J., Kolker A.S., Allison M.A., Johannesson K.H. 2013. River discharge influences on particulate organic carbon age structure in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River System. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 27:1-13. doi: 10.1029/2012GB004339. [pdf]
  • Kolker, A.S., Cable, J.E., Johannesson, K.H., Allison, M.A., Inniss, L.V. 2013. Pathways and processes associated with the transport of groundwaters in deltaic systems. Journal of Hydrology 498, 319-334. [pdf]
  • Esposito, C.R., Georgiou, I., Kolker, A.S. 2013. Efficient delivery of sediment through an active crevasse splay. Geophysical Research Letters 40: 1540-1545. doi: 1510.1002/grl.50333.
  • Kolker, A.S., Miner, M.D., Weather, H.D. 2012. Depositional dynamics in a river diversion receiving basin: The case of the West Bay Mississippi River Diversion. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 106, 1-12
  • Land, L.E., Kolker, A.S., Gambrell, R.P., 2012. Biotic and abiotic controls on sediment aggregation and consolidation: Implications for geochemical fluxes and coastal restoration. Marine Environmental Research 79, 100-110
  • Bianchi, T.S., Wysocki, L.A., Schneider, K.m., Filley, T.R., Corbett, D.R. and Kolker, A.S. (2011) Sources of Terrestrial Organic Carbon in the Mississippi Plume Region: Evidence for the Importance of Coastal Marsh Inputs. Organic Geochemistry.
  • Kolker, A.S., Allison, M.A., Hammed, S. (2011). An evaluation of subsidence rates and sea-level variability in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geophysical Research Letters. 38:L21404. doi:10.1029/2011GL049458,2011.
  • Bianchi, T.S. Cook, R.L., Perdue, E.M. Kolic, P.E., Green, N.. Zhang, Y. Smith, R.W. Kolker, A.S., Ameen, A.D., King, G, M., Ojwang, L., Schneider, C., Normand, A., (2011). Impacts of Diverted Freshwater on Dissolved Organic Matter and Microbial Communities in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, U.S.A. Marine Environmental Research, 72: 248-257.
  • Kolker, A.S., Kirwan, M., Goodbred, S.L. and Cochran, J.K., 2010. Global climate changes recorded in coastal wetland sediments: Empirical Observations lined to Theoretical Predictions. Geophysical Research Letters, 37(L14706, doi:10.1029/2010GL043874).
  • Kolker, A.S., Meffert, D.J. Carbonell, A. and Nelson, S.A. (2010). The lessons from a major climate event: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Accepted to the International Panel on Climate Change in Cities First Assessment Report. Cambridge University Press.
  • Rahoon, D.R., Reed, D.J. Kolker, A.S., Brinson, M.M., Stevenson, J.C., Riggs, S., Christian, R., Reyes, E., Voss, C., Kunz, D., (2009). Coastal Wetland Sustainability. Chapter 4 in US Climate Change Science Program: Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.1 “Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region. US Environmental Protection Agency. p 189-237.
  • Kolker, A.S., Goodbred, S.L., Hameed, S. and Cochran, J.K., 2009. High resolution records of coastal systems responses to short-term sea-level variability. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 84(4): 493-508.
  • Kolker, A.S. and Hameed, S., 2007. Meteorologically driven trends in sea level rise. Geophysical Research Letters(L23616): DOI:2007GL021814.
  • Kolker, A.S. The Impacts of Climate Variability and Anthropogenic Activities on Salt Marsh Accretion and Loss on Long Island. Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 241 p.
  • Keogh, M.E., Kolker, A.S., Snedden, G.A., Renfro, A.A. (2019). Hydrodynamic controls on        sediment retention in an emerging diversion-fed delta. Geomorphology 332: 100-111.             https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.02.008
  • Shields, M.R., Bianchi, T.S., Kolker, A.S., Kenney, W.F., Mohrig, D., Osborne, T.Z., Curtis,       J.H. (2019). Factors controlling storage, sources, and diagenetic state of organic carbon in       a prograding subaerial delta: Wax Lake Delta Louisiana. JGR Biogeosciences, 124(5):     1115-1131.  https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004683
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (2018). Understanding the Long-      term evolution of the coupled natural-human coastal system: The future of the U.S. Gulf   Coast. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25108. Listed authors include: Ozkan-Haller, T., Carter, G.A., Cebrian, J., Dalrymple, R.A.,       Fischbach, J.R., Irisih, J.L., Kolker, A.S., Misra, S., Moore, L.J., Smith, M.D., Tornqvist, T.E., Wong-Parodi, G.
  • Kolker, A.S., Dausman, A., Allison, M.A.; Brown, G., Chu, P, De Mutsert, K., Fitzpatrick, C,
    Henkel, J.R.; Justic,  D., Kleiss, B., McCoy, E; Meselhe, E., Richards,C.P. (2018).            Rethinking the River. Eos, 99, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO101169\
  • Telfeyan, K., Breaux, A., Kim, J., Kolker, A.S., Cable,J.E., Johannesson, K., (2018).
    Cycling of oxyanion-forming trace elements in groundwaters from a freshwater deltaic
    marsh. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 204: 236-263.
  • Bernik, B., Eppinga, M., Kolker, A.S., Blum, M. (2018). Clonal vegetation patterns
    mediate  shoreline erosion. Geophysical Research Letters.   https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077537.
  • Ameen, A.D., Kolker, A.S., Taylor, C., (2018). Morphological responses of competition modulated by abiotic factors in two monoculture-forming wetland plants. Aquatic        Botany, 147:61-67.

  • Shields, M.R., Bianchi, T.S., Mohrig, D., Hutchings, J.A., Kenny, W.F., Kolker, A.S., Curtis,H.
    (2017). Carbon Storage in the Mississippi River delta enhanced by environmental engineering. Nature Geoscience 10: 846-851. doi:10.1038/ngeo3044