Denmark

Contact details

Patrick Friend
Global Strategic Adviser/Sediment Dynamicist/Coastal Oceanographer/Biosedimentologist
Coastal and Marine Sciences
Integral Consulting Inc.
Vejle Ost, Denmark
pfriend@integral-corp.com

Patrick Friend

Message from Ambassador

The coastal zone – the interface between land and sea – has always been important to me since growing up among the estuaries and beaches of southern England, and later becoming a coastal and marine scientist in Europe and now the US. Today, more than ever before, estuarine and coastal science is critical to our understanding of natural systems and their interaction with human-induced effects in the coastal zone. My academic training taught me the value of a multi-disciplinary approach; to me this is perfectly represented by ECSA and its scientific membership. Now I believe we need more: we need a ‘stronger together’ approach to make our science heard above the noise. It is for this reason that I want to raise ECSA awareness in the US, not only within existing academic, governmental and consultancy circles, but more importantly among young coastal and estuarine scientists. 

Biographical summary

Dr. Patrick Friend is an international coastal and marine scientist, with key areas of interest in coastal & marine sediments and sediment transport, bio-sedimentology, coastal resiliency, ports, harbors and estuaries. He spent 8 years as a research fellow at the University of Southampton’s National Oceanography Centre, where he was university lead on three multidisciplinary European Union projects, Bioptis, Eurodelta and US-EuroStrataform. During this time he worked as consultant on the MOSE flood protection scheme in Venice Lagoon, Italy. After ten years in the global offshore energy industry, he returned to coastal and marine science four years ago, and is now based in Houston, Texas where he is a Coastal and Marine Sciences Strategic Adviser for Integral Consulting. Dr. Friend is a reviewer for a number of international scientific journals, and has published on topics ranging from Sediment Transport Pathways in Dredged Estuaries to Bio-Sediment Interaction in the Coastal Zone, and Shallow Gas Accumulation in Modern Deltaic Systems. His paper, ‘Bio-dependent Bed Parameters as a Proxy Tool for Sediment Stability in Mixed Habitat Intertidal Areas’ won the award for most-cited publication, Continental Shelf Research, 2003-2007. His present research involves Lagoonal Ecosystem Indicators of Heavy Metals derived from Pyrotechnics, and Barrier Island Sediment Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico. He is an advocate for intelligent solutions that work with nature.