Jennifer O’Donnell, Ph.D.
Principal Coastal Engineer/CEO



For over 20 years, Dr. Jennifer O’Donnell has been addressing a broad array of practical problems in the coastal ocean environment. Her project work includes analyzing sediment transport and beach erosion in the field and the laboratory, processing and evaluating underwater acoustic signals, and developing ocean environmental impact statements. Dr. O’Donnell has extensive experience developing and evaluating approaches for operational use of physical oceanography including improving the effectiveness of ocean searches through computational modeling, deriving surface currents from satellite oceanography (AVHRR and Synthetic Aperture Radar), evaluating drifting buoy design, identifying environmental data for operational forecasting, and assessing the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) for ocean operations.

Dr. O’Donnell’s professional experience includes federal government, industry and academic institutions. She has published technical papers on a variety of subjects including sediment transport, satellite oceanography, underwater acoustic signal processing, and UAVs in refereed journals such as Journal of Underwater Acoustics, Unmanned Systems, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Marine Geology, Journal of Geophysical Research and Journal Fluid Mechanics.

Areas of Expertise

  • Sediment Transport
  • Coastal Engineering
  • Coastal and Ocean Environmental Data Analysis
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Environmental Impact Assessment
  • Signal Processing
  • Project Management

Education

  • Ph.D., Engineering, University of Cambridge, England
  • Master of Civil Engineering, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, University of Delaware
  • Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Civil Engineering, Duke University

Achievement, Credentials & Affiliations

  • Member of the Connecticut Legislators’ Task Force on Climate Change and Coastal Protection
  • Guest on NPR’s Where We Live http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/beach-erosion-post-sandy
  • Presenter, NOAA Coastal Service Center: Coastal Adaptation for Municipal Leaders
  • Quoted in the Boston Globe, New London Day, Westerly Sun, Hartford Bulletin and CT Mirror.