Contact

Social Media

Office

  • 471 SN
  • 617.373.5465

Research Focus

Coastal engineering and science, particularly in the development and application of state-of-the-art numerical models to address coastal resiliency and sustainability

Education

  • Ph.D. Civil Engineering, Old Dominion University in collaboration with Danish Hydraulic Institute
  • M.Sc. Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Hohai University, China
  • B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Hohai University, China

Honors & Awards

  • 2022 Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award
  • James M. Todd Technological Accomplishment Medal, LES-BTR
  • Best Paper Award, Louisiana Association of Professional Biologists
  • LSU Rainmakers Award for Innovative Research
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2006

Research Overview

Coastal engineering and science, particularly in the development and application of state-of-the-art numerical models to address coastal resiliency and sustainability

Selected Research Projects

  • Integrated Numerical Modeling and Field Observations of Hurricane Impacts to Natural and Hybrid Infrastructure
    • Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Collaborative Research: Morphodynamic simulations of coastal storms and overwash to characterize back-barrier lake stratigraphies
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Coupling CSHORE and Aeolis/Duna to Model Co-Evolution of Nearshore-Beach-Dune Systems: Caminada Headlands, Louisiana and Duck, North Carolina
    • – Principal Investigator, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Engineering Research and Development Center

Research Centers and Institutes

  • Institute for Experiential AI, affiliated
  • Coastal Sustainability Institute, affiliated
  • GRI, affiliated

Selected Publications

  • Johnson, C.L., Chen, Q., Ozdemir, C.E., Xu, K., McCall, R., and Nederhoff, K. (2021). Morphodynamic Modeling of a Low-Lying Barrier Subject to Hurricane Forcing: The Role of Backbarrier Wetlands. Coastal Engineering, 167, 103886.1
  • Chen, X., Chen, Q., Chen, Z., Cai, S., Zhuo, X., and Lv, J. (2021). Numerical Modeling of the Interaction between Submerged Floating Tunnel and Surface Waves, Ocean Engineering, 220:108494
  • L. Zhu, Q. Chen, H. Wang, W. Capurso, L. Niemoczynski, K. Hu, G. Snedden, Field Observations of Wind Waves in Upper Delaware Bay with Living Shorelines, Estuaries and Coasts, 43, 2020, 739-755
  • C. Johnson, Q. Chen, C. Ozdemir, Lidar Time-Series Analysis of a Rapidly Transgressing Low-Lying Mainland Barrier (Caminada Headlands, Louisiana, USA), Geomorphology, 352, 2020, 106979
  • L. Zhu, Q. Chen, Phase-Averaged Drag Force of Nonlinear Waves Over Submerged and Through Emergent Vegetation, Journal of Geophysical Research–Oceans, 124, 2019

Faculty

Jul 03, 2024

Warmer Water Can Lead to Stronger Hurricanes

CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen explains that the high ocean temperatures are a factor in Hurricane Beryl’s record-breaking development and predicts a busy hurricane season.

Faculty

Jun 03, 2024

How Communities Can Brace Themselves for an Active Hurricane Season

CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen provides insights into what NOAA and university researchers expect to be a significantly active 2024 hurricane season. Using past hurricanes as a reference, he also details the varying degrees of resiliency among different communities.

Faculty

Mar 13, 2024

Building a Floating Pier To Provide Aid to Gaza

CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen says the construction of a floating pier to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza will present many engineering challenges, but none are insurmountable. 

Faculty

Dec 07, 2023

2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Faculty

Sep 15, 2023

Ocean Sensors Study Wave and Storm Surge as Hurricane Lee Approaches

CEE Assistant Professor Julia Hopkins and CEE/MES Professor Jim Chen are deploying buoys and pressure sensors to collect data during Hurricane Lee to improve storm modeling and design nature-based solutions for coastal resilience.

Faculty

Aug 02, 2023

Q. Jim Chen and CEE Host 2023 FUNWAVE Workshop

Northeastern University hosted the fifth FUNWAVE-TVD Training Workshop, which brought together researchers and students from around the world to discuss the use of modeling software to predict coastal hazards.

Faculty

Jun 01, 2023

How Nature-based Solutions Are Being Used To Fight Rising Seas

CEE Assistant Professor Julia Hopkins has been working to improve her designs for the Emerald Tutu project, a floating marshland made of interconnected mats of marsh grasses, which could serve as a defense system to protect against future floods caused by rising seas, while also purifying the surrounding waters.

Faculty

Nov 02, 2022

2022 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

A group of COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Faculty

Apr 15, 2022

Faculty and Staff Awards 2022

Congratulations to all the winners of the faculty and staff awards, and to everyone for their hard work and dedication during the 2021-2022 academic school year.

Faculty

Mar 08, 2022

Modeling Data from Hurricane Impacts to Natural and Hybrid Infrastructure

CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen, in collaboration with Navid Jafari from Louisiana State University, is leading a $765k NSF grant for “Integrated Numerical Modeling and Field Observations of Hurricane Impacts to Natural and Hybrid Infrastructure.”

View All Related News