Associate Professor David Callaghan
Associate Professor

David Callaghan

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 53517

Background

Before joining the University of Queensland, Dave P. Callaghan held positions within industry including Parsons Brinckerhoff and Lawson and Treloar and research sector including Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie and the University of Queensland. He is an observer of the Queensland Water Panel and active in the newly created Australian Hydraulic Modelling Association. He is the author of a book section and more than 50 other technical documents with applied and research applications. He is a consultant to private and government organisations. He has worked recently with private and government organisations to improve understanding of extreme coastal weather responses. He is recognised for leading edge research in coastal engineering including statistics of extremes, beach erosion from extreme events, physical and biological interactions of salt marshes and coral reefs, lagoon dynamics and wave propagation.

Availability

Associate Professor David Callaghan is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Biological Sciences Civil engineering Computational methods in fluid flow, heat and mass transfer (incl. computational fluid dynamics) Earth Sciences Ecology Education Education systems Engineering Environmental engineering Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering not elsewhere classified Geophysical and environmental fluid flows Geophysics Higher education Information and Computing Sciences Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Maritime engineering Ocean engineering Oceanography Physical oceanography Risk engineering Turbulent flows Water resources engineering

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Engineering, Queensland University of Technology
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • Coastal Engineering

    All aspects of Coastal engineering including wave growth, propagation and dissipation, sediment transport and coastal morphology, surge dynamics, extreme probabilities for coastal variables including beach erosion and oceanic inundation, surf and swash zone hydrodynamics, river entrance hydraulics and morphodynamics and coastal groundwater dynamics.

Research impacts

My research is under continued translation through Civil Engineering consulting work (coastal erosion when managing beaches under changing climate, extreme values for setting flood levels and assessing beach erosion, climate change assessments for flood hazards), Environmental Engineering consulting work (cyclone and non-cyclonic wave climates under a changing climate for the entire Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef and Jervis Bay and coral habitat mapping of the Great Barrier Reef), and through ARC linkages (Redland City Council and DHI Group), Cooperative Research Centres (Blue economy, Bushfires and natural hazards and Tourism) and National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility projects, were research was operationalised by working hand in hand with industry. My discoveries around coastal erosion and extreme values assessments are becoming the normal standard for engineering projects, particularly in NSW, which has a high wave energy coastline.

Search Professor David Callaghan’s works on UQ eSpace

162 works between 2002 and 2025
All (162) Journal Article (88) Book Chapter (3) Conference Publication (58) Book (1) Other Outputs (12)

61 - 80 of 162 works

2017

Conference Publication

Bayesian Belief Networks-communicating model predictions to nonexpert end users

Callaghan, David P., Baldock, Tom E., Shabani, Behnam and Mumby, Peter J. (2017). Bayesian Belief Networks-communicating model predictions to nonexpert end users. Australasian Coasts and Ports 2017 Conference, Cairns, QLD Australia, 21-23 June 2017. Barton, ACT Australia: Engineers Australia, PIANC Australia and Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

Bayesian Belief Networks-communicating model predictions to nonexpert end users

2017

Conference Publication

Testing open FOAM in continental scale simulations

Hu, Zhifang and Callaghan, David P. (2017). Testing open FOAM in continental scale simulations. Australasian Coasts and Ports 2017 Conference, Cairns, Queensland, 21-23 June 2017 . Barton, ACT, Australia: Engineers Australia.

Testing open FOAM in continental scale simulations

2017

Journal Article

Assessment of runup predictions by empirical models on non-truncated beaches on the south-east Australian coast

Atkinson, Alexander L., Power, Hannah E., Moura, Theo, Hammond, Tim, Callaghan, David P. and Baldock, Tom E. (2017). Assessment of runup predictions by empirical models on non-truncated beaches on the south-east Australian coast. Coastal Engineering, 119, 15-31. doi: 10.1016/j.coastaleng.2016.10.001

Assessment of runup predictions by empirical models on non-truncated beaches on the south-east Australian coast

2017

Book Chapter

Assessing storm erosion hazards

Ranasinghe, Roshanka and Callaghan, David (2017). Assessing storm erosion hazards. Coastal storms: Processes and Impacts. (pp. 241-256) edited by Paolo Ciavola and Giovanni Coco. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118937099.ch12

Assessing storm erosion hazards

2017

Conference Publication

Comparing extreme water levels using different techniques and impact of climate indices

Callaghan, David P., Couriel, Edward, Hanslow, David, Modra, Ben, Fitzhenry, Martin and Jacobs, Rob (2017). Comparing extreme water levels using different techniques and impact of climate indices. Australasian Coasts and Ports 2017 Conference, Cairns, QLD Australia, 21-23 June 2017. Barton, ACT Australia: Engineers Australia, PIANC Australia and Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

Comparing extreme water levels using different techniques and impact of climate indices

2016

Journal Article

Short-term mudflat dynamics drive long-term cyclic salt marsh dynamics

Bouma, T. J., van Belzen, J., Balke, T., van Dalen, J., Klaassen, P., Hartog, A. M., Callaghan, D. P., Hu, Z., Stive, M. J. F., Temmerman, S. and Herman, P. M. J. (2016). Short-term mudflat dynamics drive long-term cyclic salt marsh dynamics. Limnology and Oceanography, 61 (6), 2261-2275. doi: 10.1002/lno.10374

Short-term mudflat dynamics drive long-term cyclic salt marsh dynamics

2016

Journal Article

Feedback between sediment and light for seagrass: where is it important?

Adams, Matthew P., Hovey, Renae K., Hipsey, Matthew R., Bruce, Louise C., Ghisalberti, Marco, Lowe, Ryan J., Gruber, Renee K., Ruiz-Montoya, Leonardo, Maxwell, Paul S., Callaghan, David P., Kendrick, Gary A. and O'Brien, Katherine R. (2016). Feedback between sediment and light for seagrass: where is it important?. Limnology and Oceanography, 61 (6), 1937-1955. doi: 10.1002/lno.10319

Feedback between sediment and light for seagrass: where is it important?

2016

Journal Article

Reconciling development and conservation under coastal squeeze from rising sea-level

Mills, Morena, Leon, Javier X., Saunders, Megan I., Bell, Justine, Liu, Yan, O’Mara, Julian, Lovelock, Catherine E., Mumby, Peter J., Phinn, Stuart, Possingham, Hugh P., Tulloch, Vigitskaia, Mutafoglu, Konar, Morrison, Tiffany, Callaghan, David, Baldock, Tom, Klein, Carissa and Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove (2016). Reconciling development and conservation under coastal squeeze from rising sea-level. Conservation Letters, 9 (5), 361-368. doi: 10.1111/conl.12213

Reconciling development and conservation under coastal squeeze from rising sea-level

2016

Other Outputs

Resilience to clustered disaster events at the coast: storm surge

Nichol, Scott, McPherson, Andrew, Howard, Floyd, Jiang, Wenping, Davies, Gareth, Moore, Duncan, Owens, Katherine, Sexton, Jane, Baldock, Tom, Callaghan, David and Gravois, Uriah (2016). Resilience to clustered disaster events at the coast: storm surge. Annual project report 2015-2016 Canberra, ACT, Australia: Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC.

Resilience to clustered disaster events at the coast: storm surge

2016

Other Outputs

Review of beach profile and shoreline models applicable to the statistical modelling of beach erosion and the impacts of storm clustering

Gravois, Uriah, Callaghan, David, Baldock, Tom, Smith, Katrina and Martin, Bronte (2016). Review of beach profile and shoreline models applicable to the statistical modelling of beach erosion and the impacts of storm clustering. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC.

Review of beach profile and shoreline models applicable to the statistical modelling of beach erosion and the impacts of storm clustering

2016

Journal Article

Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows

Hedjripour, Amir H., Callaghan, David P. and Baldock, Tom E. (2016). Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 54 (4), 371-388. doi: 10.1080/00221686.2016.1168881

Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows

2016

Journal Article

A framework for modelling shoreline response to clustered storm events: a case study from southeast Australia

Nichol, Scott L., McPherson, Andrew, Davies, Gareth, Jiang, Wenping, Howard, Floyd, Gravois, Uriah, Callaghan, David and Baldock, Tom (2016). A framework for modelling shoreline response to clustered storm events: a case study from southeast Australia. Journal of Coastal Research, 1 (75), 1197-1201. doi: 10.2112/SI75-240.1

A framework for modelling shoreline response to clustered storm events: a case study from southeast Australia

2016

Journal Article

Drawing the line on coastline recession risk

Jongejan, Ruben, Ranasinghe, Roshanka, Wainwright, David, Callaghan, David P. and Reyns, Johan (2016). Drawing the line on coastline recession risk. Ocean and Coastal Management, 122, 87-94. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.01.006

Drawing the line on coastline recession risk

2016

Journal Article

Corrigendum to: Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows

Hedjripour, A. H., Callaghan, D. P. and Baldock, T. E. (2016). Corrigendum to: Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 54 (6), 708-708. doi: 10.1080/00221686.2016.1236551

Corrigendum to: Generalized transformation of the lattice Boltzmann method for shallow water flows

2016

Journal Article

Prioritizing localized management actions for seagrass conservation and restoration using a species distribution model

Adams, Matthew P., Saunders, Megan I., Maxwell, Paul S., Tuazon, Daniel, Roelfsema, Chris M., Callaghan, David P., Leon, Javier, Grinham, Alistair R. and O'Brien, Katherine R. (2016). Prioritizing localized management actions for seagrass conservation and restoration using a species distribution model. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 26 (4), 639-659. doi: 10.1002/aqc.2573

Prioritizing localized management actions for seagrass conservation and restoration using a species distribution model

2016

Conference Publication

Turbulence Towers, finally the ability to practically, economically and accurately measure the turbulence structure and more in rivers

Nielsen, J. E. C. and Callaghan, D. P. (2016). Turbulence Towers, finally the ability to practically, economically and accurately measure the turbulence structure and more in rivers. International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, RIVER FLOW 2016, St. Louis, MO, United States, 11 - 14 July 2016. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press/Balkema. doi: 10.1201/9781315644479-66

Turbulence Towers, finally the ability to practically, economically and accurately measure the turbulence structure and more in rivers

2016

Book Chapter

What to do with a threshold concept: a case study

Meyer, Jan H. F., Knight, David B, Baldock, Thomas E., Callaghan, David P., McCredden, Julie and O'Moore, Liza (2016). What to do with a threshold concept: a case study. Threshold concepts in practice. (pp. 195-209) edited by Ray Land, Jan H. F. Meyer and Michael T. Flanagan. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers. doi: 10.1007/978-94-6300-512-8_15

What to do with a threshold concept: a case study

2015

Journal Article

Impact of sea-level rise on cross-shore sediment transport on fetch-limited barrier reef island beaches under modal and cyclonic conditions

Baldock, T. E., Golshani, A., Atkinson, A., Shimamoto, T., Wu, S., Callaghan, D. P. and Mumby, P. J. (2015). Impact of sea-level rise on cross-shore sediment transport on fetch-limited barrier reef island beaches under modal and cyclonic conditions. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 97 (1-2), 188-198. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.017

Impact of sea-level rise on cross-shore sediment transport on fetch-limited barrier reef island beaches under modal and cyclonic conditions

2015

Journal Article

Threshold concepts as a focus for metalearning activity: application of a research-developed mechanism in undergraduate engineering

Meyer, Jan H. F., Knight, David B., Callaghan, David P. and Baldock, Tom E. (2015). Threshold concepts as a focus for metalearning activity: application of a research-developed mechanism in undergraduate engineering. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 52 (3), 277-289. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2015.1017515

Threshold concepts as a focus for metalearning activity: application of a research-developed mechanism in undergraduate engineering

2015

Journal Article

Wave modelling as a proxy for seagrass ecological modelling: comparing fetch and process-based predictions for a bay and reef lagoon

Callaghan, David P., Leon, Javier X. and Saunders, Megan I. (2015). Wave modelling as a proxy for seagrass ecological modelling: comparing fetch and process-based predictions for a bay and reef lagoon. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 153, 108-120. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2014.12.016

Wave modelling as a proxy for seagrass ecological modelling: comparing fetch and process-based predictions for a bay and reef lagoon

Current funding

  • 2022 - 2025
    NSW regional-scale flood hazard projections under climate change
    New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2025
    RRAP-RS-02-V1 Approaches to stabilisation
    Australian Institute of Marine Science
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2025
    RRAP-RS-03-V1 Synthesis and Tools Rubble Stabilisation
    Australian Institute of Marine Science
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2021 - 2024
    Managing the existing and emerging threats from coastal flow slides
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2025
    RRAP-RS-01-V1 Rubble location, prediction and sub-program management (GBRF funding administered by AIMS)
    Australian Institute of Marine Science
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2023
    Next generation offshore blue water aquaculture
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Understanding reservoir sedimentation
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Coastal Engineering Research Field Station (CERFS) (ARC LIEF project administered by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2018
    Resilience to clustered disaster events on the coast - storm surge
    Commonwealth Government Geoscience Australia
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Healthy Waterways model custodian
    Healthy Waterways Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2016
    North West Channel Trial Dredging Project
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2016
    Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise.
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2015
    Development and validation of an innovative wind stress model to obtain robust storm surge forecasts
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2014
    Seagrass as an ecological indicator: resolving challenges of scale and complexity
    UQ Collaboration and Industry Engagement Fund
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2016
    Optimising SWRO Concentrate Discharge During 'Hot Standby' Operation
    Murdoch University
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    A model framework for assessing risk and adaptation to climate change on Australian coasts
    University of Wollongong
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2013
    Development of an adaptive statistical model for oceanic flooding hazards along the East Australian coast
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2010
    Near-bed wave kinetics
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor David Callaghan is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Coastal erosion when managing beaches under changing climate

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alexander Scheuermann

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Amity Point Flow Slides: Intermediate scale investigations

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Nielsen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Offshore seaweed and renewable energy farms: solutions for integration and co-location

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Chien Ming Wang

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Examination of the performance of XBeach numerical model for beaches on open coasts and behind coral reefs using laboratory, field and aerial imaging data

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Tom Baldock

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Assessing and modelling of breaching and coastal erosion risks on Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast under current and future wave climates.

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Remo Cossu, Professor Tom Baldock

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Impacts of climate change-induced large-scale disturbances on coral reef connectivity and recovery

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Mumby

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor David Callaghan directly for media enquiries about:

  • beach ersion
  • coastal engineering
  • fluid mechanics
  • storm surge
  • wave modelling

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