Biography

Jennifer Irish is a professor of coastal engineering at Virginia Tech and a globally recognized expert in storm surge dynamics, coastal hazard assessment, and nature-based coastal infrastructure. Prior to academia, she served as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Engineering Regional Technical Specialist. Professor Irish has authored over 70 journal papers, garnering more than 5,000 citations and advancing key areas of coastal engineering: airborne lidar bathymetry, hazard mitigation by vegetation and barrier islands, storm surge physics and probabilistic hazard assessment, and the impacts of sea level rise. She has led or co-led academic research projects totaling US$25 million, with US$4 million supporting her research program. Her achievements have earned her prestigious honors, including the U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship and the U.S. Department of the Army's Superior Civilian Service Award. She serves as Vice Chair of the Coastal Engineering Research Council and has previously served as Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Committee on Technical Advancement and as Secretary of ASCE’s Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute Board of Governors. Her contributions to the field have been recognized with election to the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and to Fellow of ASCE.