Rate My Professor Alison Raby

Raby's research specializations encompass coastal engineering, with a focus on extreme wave interactions with coastal structures including lighthouses, seawalls, and breakwaters; tsunami boulder transport; mixed debris interactions under extreme flood conditions; compound flooding; and adaptation strategies for climate change impacts like sea-level rise and increased storminess. She has been principal investigator on major EPSRC-funded projects, including STORMLAMP (2016–2020), which investigated wave loading and resilience of rock-mounted lighthouses through field measurements, laboratory modeling, and numerical analysis in collaboration with UCL, Exeter, and lighthouse authorities; and ENFORCE (2013–2016), which verified design waves for extreme runup, overtopping, and forces on sea defences. Her international contributions include participation in Earthquake Engineers Field Investigation Team missions, such as post-2011 Tōhoku tsunami reconnaissance in Japan, and studies on post-tsunami reconstruction in Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. She led a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A on 'Environmental Loading of Heritage Structures' and the REF 2021 exercise for engineering at Plymouth. Key publications include 'Wolf Rock lighthouse: past developments and future challenges' (2019), 'Environmental loading of heritage structures' (2019), and 'On wave impact pressure variability' (2022). In 2021, she was named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering Heroes by the Women’s Engineering Society. Her work influences resilient design of coastal infrastructure, heritage preservation, and contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals such as SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water).