Bret M. Webb

Dr. Bret M. Webb is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Alabama's College of Engineering. With over 20 years of experience in coastal engineering, he focuses on resilience of the built environment to extreme events and climate change, and the role of natural systems in coastal protection. His work spans coastal processes, transportation infrastructure, and ecosystem-based solutions.

• Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Coastal/Civil Engineering from the University of Florida
• Licensed Professional Engineer (AL, FL) and Board Certified Coastal Engineer (BC.CE)

Research Interests: Dr. Webb specializes in coastal resilience, particularly the interaction between engineered infrastructure and natural/nature-based systems. His work examines wave-structure interactions, sediment transport, and adaptation strategies for sea level rise and hurricanes.

Recent Projects: Leads the Augmenting Sentinel Hurricane Towers initiative, collaborates on living shorelines monitoring with Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and explores tropical seagrass impacts on coastal dynamics with the University of the Virgin Islands. He also contributes to systems engineering approaches for barrier island resilience and risk-based community planning via NIST-funded projects.

Laboratory & Modeling Expertise: Director of the University of South Alabama's ACES Center, managing physical facilities (wave flume, wave basin) and numerical models (XBeach, ADCIRC, Delft3D). Fieldwork involves coastal monitoring with ADCPs, CTDs, and GNSS surveying.