Eli Lazarus

In my research I apply complexity-based analytical methods to questions regarding physical landscape change and coupled natural and human systems—illuminating feedbacks between interconnected regimes, but also characterizing their dynamics and the ranges of spatial and temporal scales over which they operate. I employ geospatial data, numerical modeling, and field observations to unpack linkages between Earth-surface processes and human decisions.

I recently completed a postdoctoral year in the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University (where I earned my Ph.D., specializing in geomorphology and coastal dynamics); my postdoctoral work involves a computational model that explores how beach change and coastal economics co-evolve in response to climate change and to different coastal management regimes.

I currently live in Portland, Maine, where I am a visiting scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. I very much enjoy creative cooking with whatever is at hand, small-scale farming, body surfing, and long-distance running.