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)

81 - 100 of 162 works

2015

Journal Article

Moving from deterministic towards probabilistic coastal hazard and risk assessment: development of a modelling framework and application to Narrabeen Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Wainwright, D. J., Ranasinghe, R., Callaghan, D. P., Woodroffe, C. D., Jongejan, R., Dougherty, A. J., Rogers, K. and Cowell, P. J. (2015). Moving from deterministic towards probabilistic coastal hazard and risk assessment: development of a modelling framework and application to Narrabeen Beach, New South Wales, Australia. Coastal Engineering, 96, 92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.coastaleng.2014.11.009

Moving from deterministic towards probabilistic coastal hazard and risk assessment: development of a modelling framework and application to Narrabeen Beach, New South Wales, Australia

2015

Conference Publication

Tropical Cyclones asymmetry, parametric presentation and discussion

Olfateh, Mohammad, Callaghan, David P., Baldock, Tom E. and Nielsen, Peter (2015). Tropical Cyclones asymmetry, parametric presentation and discussion. Australasian Coasts & Ports Conference 2015, Auckland, New Zealand, 15-18 September 2015. Auckland, New Zealand: Engineers Australia and IPENZ.

Tropical Cyclones asymmetry, parametric presentation and discussion

2014

Journal Article

Comparison of the influence of patch-scale and meadow-scale characteristics on flow within seagrass meadows: a flume study

Adhitya, A., Bouma, T. J., Folkard, A. M., van Katwijk, M. M., Callaghan, D., de Iongh, H. H. and Herman, P. M. J. (2014). Comparison of the influence of patch-scale and meadow-scale characteristics on flow within seagrass meadows: a flume study. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 516, 49-59. doi: 10.3354/meps10873

Comparison of the influence of patch-scale and meadow-scale characteristics on flow within seagrass meadows: a flume study

2014

Journal Article

An empirical exploration of metacognitive assessment activities in a third-year civil engineering hydraulics course

Meyer, Jan H. F., Knight, David B., Callaghan, David P. and Baldock, Tom E. (2014). An empirical exploration of metacognitive assessment activities in a third-year civil engineering hydraulics course. European Journal of Engineering Education, 40 (3), 309-327. doi: 10.1080/03043797.2014.960367

An empirical exploration of metacognitive assessment activities in a third-year civil engineering hydraulics course

2014

Journal Article

An evaluation of methods available for quantifying extreme beach erosion

Pender, Douglas, Callaghan, David P. and Karunarathna, Harshinie (2014). An evaluation of methods available for quantifying extreme beach erosion. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, 1 (1), 31-43. doi: 10.1007/s40722-014-0003-1

An evaluation of methods available for quantifying extreme beach erosion

2014

Journal Article

Probabilistic estimation of coastal dune erosion and recession by statistical simulation of storm events

Li, F., Gelder, P. H. A. J. M. V., Vrijling, J. K., Callaghan, D. P., Jongejan, R. B. and Ranasinghe, R. (2014). Probabilistic estimation of coastal dune erosion and recession by statistical simulation of storm events. Applied Ocean Research, 47, 53-62. doi: 10.1016/j.apor.2014.01.002

Probabilistic estimation of coastal dune erosion and recession by statistical simulation of storm events

2014

Journal Article

Timescales of inlet morphodynamic forced by tides and waves

Thuy, Vu T. T. , Nielsen, Peter, Callaghan, David P. and Hanslow, David J. (2014). Timescales of inlet morphodynamic forced by tides and waves. Indian Journal of Geo - Marine Sciences, 43 (7), 1332-1338.

Timescales of inlet morphodynamic forced by tides and waves

2014

Journal Article

Impact of sea-level rise and coral mortality on the wave dynamics and wave forces on barrier reefs

Baldock, T. E., Golshani, A., Callaghan, D. P., Saunders, M. I. and Mumby, P. J. (2014). Impact of sea-level rise and coral mortality on the wave dynamics and wave forces on barrier reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 83 (1), 155-164. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.03.058

Impact of sea-level rise and coral mortality on the wave dynamics and wave forces on barrier reefs

2014

Journal Article

Measurement and modelling of the influence of grain size and pressure gradient on swash uprush sediment transport

Othman, Ilya K., Baldock, Tom E. and Callaghan, David P. (2014). Measurement and modelling of the influence of grain size and pressure gradient on swash uprush sediment transport. Coastal Engineering, 83, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.coastaleng.2013.09.001

Measurement and modelling of the influence of grain size and pressure gradient on swash uprush sediment transport

2014

Journal Article

Resilience of branching and massive corals to wave loading under sea level rise - A coupled computational fluid dynamics-structural analysis

Baldock, Tom E., Karampour, Hassan, Sleep, Rachael, Vyltla, Anisha, Albermani, Faris, Golshani, Aliasghar, Callaghan, David P., Roff, George and Mumby, Peter J. (2014). Resilience of branching and massive corals to wave loading under sea level rise - A coupled computational fluid dynamics-structural analysis. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 86 (1-2), 91-101. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.07.038

Resilience of branching and massive corals to wave loading under sea level rise - A coupled computational fluid dynamics-structural analysis

2014

Conference Publication

Monitoring inlet morphodynamics via tidal response, seen through a novel 24.5hour moving window

Vu, Thuy Thi Thu, Nielsen, Peter and Callaghan, David P. (2014). Monitoring inlet morphodynamics via tidal response, seen through a novel 24.5hour moving window. International Conference on Coastal Engineering, Seoul, Korea, 15-20 June 2014. San Francisco, CA, United States: Coastal Engineering Research Council. doi: 10.9753/icce.v34.posters.10

Monitoring inlet morphodynamics via tidal response, seen through a novel 24.5hour moving window

2014

Conference Publication

Ocean driven flooding of a coastal lake

Callaghan, David P., Vu, Thuy T. T., Hanslow, David, J., Nielsen, Peter, You, Zai-Jin and Teakle, Ian (2014). Ocean driven flooding of a coastal lake. International Conference on Coastal Engineering, Seoul, Korea, 15-20 June 2014. San Francisco, CA, United States: Coastal Engineering Research Council. doi: 10.9753/icce.v34.currents.47

Ocean driven flooding of a coastal lake

2014

Journal Article

An argument for probabilistic coastal hazard assessment: Retrospective examination of practice in New South Wales, Australia

Wainwright, D. J., Ranasinghe, R., Callaghan, D. P., Woodroffe, C. D., Cowell, P. J. and Rogers, K. (2014). An argument for probabilistic coastal hazard assessment: Retrospective examination of practice in New South Wales, Australia. Ocean and Coastal Management, 95, 147-155. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2014.04.009

An argument for probabilistic coastal hazard assessment: Retrospective examination of practice in New South Wales, Australia

2014

Journal Article

Interdependency of tropical marine ecosystems in response to climate change

Saunders, Megan I., Leon, Javier X., Callaghan, David P., Roelfsema, Chris M., Hamylton, Sarah, Brown, Christopher J., Baldock, Tom, Golshani, Aliasghar, Phinn, Stuart R., Lovelock, Catherine E., Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove, Woodroffe, Colin D. and Mumby, Peter J. (2014). Interdependency of tropical marine ecosystems in response to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 4 (8), 724-729. doi: 10.1038/nclimate2274

Interdependency of tropical marine ecosystems in response to climate change

2014

Conference Publication

Morphology of coastal lagoon entrances: waves versus tides

Vu, Thuy T. T., Nielsen, Peter and Callaghan, David P. (2014). Morphology of coastal lagoon entrances: waves versus tides. International Conference on Coastal Engineering, Seoul, Korea, 15-20 June 2014. San Francisco, CA, United States: Coastal Engineering Research Council. doi: 10.9753/icce.v34.sediment.89

Morphology of coastal lagoon entrances: waves versus tides

2014

Journal Article

Probabilistic modelling of extreme storms along the Dutch coast

Li, F., van Gelder, P. H. A. J. M., Ranasinghe, R., Callaghan, D. P. and Jongejan, R. B. (2014). Probabilistic modelling of extreme storms along the Dutch coast. Coastal Engineering, 86, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.coastaleng.2013.12.009

Probabilistic modelling of extreme storms along the Dutch coast

2014

Book Chapter

A framework for modelling the risks of climate-change impacts on Australian coasts

Woodroffe, Colin, Callaghan, Dave, Cowell, Peter, Wainwright, David, Rogers, Kerrylee and Ranasinghe, Roshanka (2014). A framework for modelling the risks of climate-change impacts on Australian coasts. Applied Studies in Climate Adaptation. (pp. 181-189) edited by Palutikof, JP, Boulter, SL, Barnett, J and Rissik, D. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley and Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118845028.ch20

A framework for modelling the risks of climate-change impacts on Australian coasts

2013

Journal Article

Identifying threshold concepts: case study of an open catchment hydraulics course

Knight, D. B., Callaghan, D. P., Baldock, T. E. and Meyer, J. H. F (2013). Identifying threshold concepts: case study of an open catchment hydraulics course. European Journal of Engineering Education, 39 (2), 125-142. doi: 10.1080/03043797.2013.833175

Identifying threshold concepts: case study of an open catchment hydraulics course

2013

Journal Article

Discussion of "Modelling significant wave height distributions with quantile functions for estimation of extreme wave heights" [Ocean Eng. 54 (2012) 119-131]

You, Zai-Jin and Callaghan, David (2013). Discussion of "Modelling significant wave height distributions with quantile functions for estimation of extreme wave heights" [Ocean Eng. 54 (2012) 119-131]. Ocean Engineering, 70, 208-210. doi: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2013.05.024

Discussion of "Modelling significant wave height distributions with quantile functions for estimation of extreme wave heights" [Ocean Eng. 54 (2012) 119-131]

2013

Journal Article

Inlet morpho-dynamics during a storm event inferred from tidal records: a case study of the Brunswick River, NSW, Australia

Vu, Thuy, T. T., Nielsen, Peter and Callaghan, David P. (2013). Inlet morpho-dynamics during a storm event inferred from tidal records: a case study of the Brunswick River, NSW, Australia. International Journal of Engineering Research, 2 (2), 38-43.

Inlet morpho-dynamics during a storm event inferred from tidal records: a case study of the Brunswick River, NSW, Australia

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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