Nalika Lakmali: A Move from Tropical Shores to Maine Tides: Unraveling Estuarine Tidal Dynamics

Hi! I’m Nalika Lakmali, a third-year PhD student in Coastal Engineering at the  University of Maine, Orono, where I research under the guidance of Dr. Kimberly  Huguenard. My journey from Sri Lanka to the U.S. has been a surprising and life changing experience, especially as I’ve dived into the study of tidal dynamics along  the coast of Maine. 

Coming from Sri Lanka, an island surrounded by the ocean, the coast has always felt  like home. Growing up, the shoreline was my playground. We had the luxury of  enjoying the surf zone year-round thanks to the warm tropical weather. Sri Lanka’s  long and beautiful coastlines, with their stunning blue beaches, are unfortunately  often impacted by poor planning and management. I witnessed firsthand the  devastating effects of the 2004 tsunami and the widespread coastal erosion that  followed. These experiences sparked my deep commitment to studying coastal  dynamics and finding ways to protect shorelines worldwide, especially given my  own connection to Sri Lanka’s coastal beauty and vulnerability. 

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Earth Resources Engineering from the University  of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, with a focus on ocean resources engineering. For my final  year project, I studied long-term coastal erosion and shoreline positions across the  country, research that laid the foundation for my passion for coastal studies. 

I then pursued a master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering and Management  at the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Centre for South Asia Water Management  (UMSCAWM), University of Moratuwa. During this time, I also worked as a  research engineer at the Lanka Hydraulic Institute for six years. This dual experience  allowed me to apply my academic learning to real-world projects. I contributed to  the feasibility studies of major developments in Sri Lanka, including the Colombo  Port City Development Project. Through this work, I gained valuable hands-on experience in numerical modeling, sediment transport, shoreline morphology, and flood inundation in both coastal and inland river environments.

Transitioning from the relatively calm, low-tide waters of Sri Lanka (where tides are around 0.4m or even less) to the more dramatic tides of New England has been a fascinating challenge. Initially, I found the change surprising, but I’ve quickly grown to love studying the intricate tidal dynamics of this region. The tides here have opened up a whole new world for me, and I’m passionate about the opportunity to explore how these forces interact with the environment. 

At the moment, I am conducting research on estuarine hydrodynamics, focusing  specifically on tidal reflection of remnants of dams and other engineered structures  within tidal estuaries, as well as the interactions between tides, river flows, and storm surges. My research is based in the Penobscot River estuary, where we recently completed an extensive fieldwork campaign. We collected a wide range of data, including water levels, flow velocities, temperature, conductivity, and depth, using a variety of advanced hydrographic instruments like ADCPs, HOBOs, Leveloggers, and CTDs, 18 devices in total. Our sensors captured crucial data during Hurricane Lee, giving us a rare and invaluable opportunity to study the dynamics of storm surge within a tidal estuary. This has been a key part of advancing my understanding of how storms influence tidal dynamics. 

I firmly believe that New England’s coast is one of the best places to study tides,  thanks to its rich complexity and variability. 

Under the mentorship of Dr. Kimberly Huguenard, I am also working on developing a field-validated Delft3D numerical model for the Penobscot Estuary. This model will help us understand how storms and engineered structures such as dams, bridge piles, and partial dam remnants affect tidal and subtidal flows. Ultimately, we hope to expand this model into a coastal flood inundation model, which will help us assess the impacts of storm events and explore how altered tidal dynamics due to human interventions can influence the coastal environment. By combining our field data and numerical modeling efforts, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of how storms are intensifying along New England’s coast and what that means for both the local communities and the environment. 

This work is not only helping us understand tidal hydrodynamics in New England  but is also contributing to the broader global effort of managing and preserving our  shorelines in the face of growing environmental challenges. 

Sometimes, working in coastal engineering means wearing many different hats. You can be a coastal scientist, a coastal engineer, a physical oceanographer, or a coastal modeler. But no matter the title, they all share one thing in common: a deep  connection to the ocean and the coast, which is what I love the most!