Scripps Institution of Oceanography research engineer and senior lecturer Richard Seymour was recently honored with the 2000 John G. Moffatt and Frank E. Nichol Harbor and Coastal Engineering Award.

The prestigious honor is awarded annually by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Seymour received the award in recognition of his lifelong contributions and leadership in the field of coastal engineering.

His status with the ASCE was also elevated to Fellow in Commendation for his life work in the field.

“”It is very rewarding to be recognized by your peers,”” Seymour said.

The rich history of past recipients of the prestigious award is not lost on him.

“”I’m very proud to get the award,”” Seymour said. “”The gods of coastal engineering have been past recipient s. I’m very proud to be included.””

Robert Guza, a professor at Scripps, acknowledged Seymour as having a “”long and illustrious career,”” as well as “”being a leader in studying the California wave climate.””

Throughout his career, Seymour’s research has covered a wide range of topics from the practical to the theoretical. On the practical side, he has studied coastal sediment transport and shoreline erosion. He is also renowned for his theoretical work with surface gravity waves.

His greatest achievement may be the creation of the Scripps Coastal Data Information Program for furthering the study of surface gravity waves. What started in 1976 with a single buoy off Imperial Beach has blossomed into one of the world’s largest scientific data collection networks.

Scripps research associate Ron Flick credits the success of the CDIP to Seymour’s innovative thinking and ability to make the theoretical accessible.

Flick noted that Seymour “”was the first to make a practical system to measure statistical properties of ocean waves.””

One of the goals of the project was to bring a research tool to the level of common practicality. Seymour helped make this goal a reality.

Currently, he is working on an expansion of CDIP to measure the impact of waves on the shoreline. The research is taking place at North Torrey Pines. It will include monitoring sand movement on and off the beach, all of which is valuable for testing computer models.