Philip Orton
Research Associate Professor
Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science
Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering
Research
Fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion, lies at the heart of most questions people ask about the ocean. Increasing numbers of people are moving to its coastlines, yet the added stress we put on the ocean can overwhelm its benefits. Evaluating problems such as storm surges, climate change, and pollution requires a detailed knowledge of ocean, estuary, and atmosphere transport processes.
I enjoy living and working in a metro region with 22 million people mostly living on islands like Manhattan and increasingly connected to their surrounding waterways. I’m a Research Associate Professor of ocean engineering, and my specific research interests include estuary and coastal ocean physics, storm surges and sea level rise, urban flood adaptation, air-sea interaction, urban and coastal atmospheric science, and computational ocean and atmosphere modeling.
I enjoy living and working in a metro region with 22 million people mostly living on islands like Manhattan and increasingly connected to their surrounding waterways. I’m a Research Associate Professor of ocean engineering, and my specific research interests include estuary and coastal ocean physics, storm surges and sea level rise, urban flood adaptation, air-sea interaction, urban and coastal atmospheric science, and computational ocean and atmosphere modeling.
Institutional Service
- Board of Trustees' Facilities Committee Member
- Research and Entrepreneurship Committee Chair
- 2022-2023 SES Strategic Planning Committee Member
- 2021-2022 SES Dean's Faculty Advisory Council Member
- 2020-2021 Assistant Professor Search Committee (Chair) Chair
- 2016-2021 Academic Planning and Resources Committee Member
- Ocean Engineering curriculum committee Member
- 2019-2020 Tenure-Track Professor Search Committee (Chair) Chair
Professional Service
- New York CIty Panel on Climate Change Member
- New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program Science and Technical Advisory Committee member
- Jamaica Bay Science and Resilience Institute, Executive Committee and Science Steering Committee Member
- American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Session convener
- American Geophysical Union Session chair
- Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute Steering Committee Member
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Contributing Author
Professional Societies
- AMS – American Meteorological Society Member
- AGU – American Geophysical Union Member
- CERF – Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Member
Grants, Contracts and Funds
Selected Recent Grants:
2023 NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, FY23 Disaster Preparedness for Coastal Communities, “Co-developing ensemble flood forecast products to improve communication and preparedness across diverse populations” (P. Orton, Co-PI and project lead; Peter Rowe, Sea Grant PI, $100k)
2022 United States Geological Survey, via the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), “Assessing Pluvial-Coastal Flood Risk and Potential Climate Inequities in New York City” (P. Orton, PI, $449k)
2022 New York City Town & Gown, “Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation Analysis (VIA RFP)” (Towers and McPherson, Co-PIs, Orton Co-I, $215k)
2021 NOAA-RISA, Supporting Regional Implementation of Integrated Climate Resilience: Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) Phase III (P. Orton Co-PI, $264k to Stevens, through 8/31/2026)
2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Prediction of and Resilience Against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS), “Geomorphic Versus Climatic Drivers of Changing Coastal Flood Risk” (P. Orton, PI; $1.2M total, $380k to Stevens)
2023 NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, FY23 Disaster Preparedness for Coastal Communities, “Co-developing ensemble flood forecast products to improve communication and preparedness across diverse populations” (P. Orton, Co-PI and project lead; Peter Rowe, Sea Grant PI, $100k)
2022 United States Geological Survey, via the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), “Assessing Pluvial-Coastal Flood Risk and Potential Climate Inequities in New York City” (P. Orton, PI, $449k)
2022 New York City Town & Gown, “Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation Analysis (VIA RFP)” (Towers and McPherson, Co-PIs, Orton Co-I, $215k)
2021 NOAA-RISA, Supporting Regional Implementation of Integrated Climate Resilience: Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) Phase III (P. Orton Co-PI, $264k to Stevens, through 8/31/2026)
2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Prediction of and Resilience Against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS), “Geomorphic Versus Climatic Drivers of Changing Coastal Flood Risk” (P. Orton, PI; $1.2M total, $380k to Stevens)
Selected Publications
Journal Article
- Braneon, C.; Ortiz, L.; Bader, D.; Devineni, N.; Orton, P.; Rosenzweig, B.; McPhearson, T.; Smalls‐Mantey, L.; Gornitz, V.; Mayo, T.; Kadam, S.; Sheerazi, H.; Glenn, E.; Yoon, L.; Derras‐Chouk, A.; Towers, J.; Leichenko, R.; Balk, D.; Marcotullio, P.; Horton, R. (2024). NPCC4: New York City climate risk information 2022—observations and projections. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Wiley.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15116. - Ghanbari, M.; Dell, T.; Saleh, F.; Chen, Z.; Cherrier, J.; Colle, B.; Hacker, J.; Madaus, L.; Orton, P.; Arabi, M. (2024). Compounding effects of changing sea level and rainfall regimes on pluvial flooding in New York City. Natural Hazards (7 ed., vol. 120, pp. 6377-6400).
- Rosenzweig, B.; Montalto, F. A.; Orton, P.; Kaatz, J.; Maher, N.; Kleyman, J.; Chen, Z.; Sanderson, E.; Adhikari, N.; McPhearson, T.; Herreros-Cantis, P. (2024). NPCC4: Climate change and New York City's flood risk. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
- Towers, J.; Leichenko, R.; Braneon, C.; Balk, D.; Yoon, L.; Wagner, G.; Ventrella, J.; Tchen, J. K.; Rosenzweig, B.; Orton, P.; Ortiz, L.; Moss, R.; Montalto, F.; McPhearson, T.; McComas, K.; Marcotullio, P.; Matte, T.; Maher, N.; Knowlton, K.; Horton, R.; Foster, S.; Bader, D.; Baptista, A. (2024). NPCC4: Climate risk and equity—advancing knowledge toward a sustainable future | Conclusions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
- Ortiz, L.; Braneon, C.; Horton, R.; Bader, D.; Orton, P.; Gornitz, V.; Rosenzweig, B.; McPhearson, T.; Smalls-Mantey, L.; Sheerazi, H.; Montalto, F. A.; Golkhandan, M. R.; Evans, C.; DeGaetano, A.; Mallen, E.; Carter, L.; McConnell, K.; Mayo, T.; Buchanan, M. (2024). NPCC4: Tail risk, climate drivers of extreme heat, and new methods for extreme event projections. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
- Enriquez, A. R.; Wahl, T.; Talke, S. A.; Orton, P.; Booth, J. F.; Agulles, M.; Santamaria-Aguilar, S. (2023). MatFlood: An efficient algorithm for mapping flood extent and depth. Environmental Modelling and Software (vol. 169).
- Mita, K. S.; Orton, P.; Montalto, F.; Saleh, F.; Rockwell, J. (2023). Sea Level Rise-Induced Transition from Rare Fluvial Extremes to Chronic and Compound Floods. Water (Switzerland) (14 ed., vol. 15).
- Chen, Z.; Orton, P. (2023). Effects of Storm Surge Barrier Closures on Estuary Saltwater Intrusion and Stratification. Water Resources Research (3 ed., vol. 59).
- Orton, P.; Ralston, D.; van Prooijen, B.; Secor, D.; Ganju, N.; Chen, Z.; Fernald, S.; Brooks, B.; Marcell, K. (2023). Increased Utilization of Storm Surge Barriers: A Research Agenda on Estuary Impacts. Earth's Future (3 ed., vol. 11).
- Pareja-Roman, L. F.; Orton, P.; Talke, S. A. (2023). Effect of Estuary Urbanization on Tidal Dynamics and High Tide Flooding in a Coastal Lagoon. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (1 ed., vol. 128).
- Ayyad, M.; Orton, P.; El Safty, H.; Chen, Z.; Hajj, M. (2022). Ensemble forecast for storm tide and resurgence from Tropical Cyclone Isaias. Weather and Climate Extremes (vol. 38).
- De Leo, F.; Wahl, T.; Orton, P. M.; Talke, S. A. (2022). The effect of harbor developments on future high‐tide flooding in Miami, Florida. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (pp. JGRC25117).
- Ruig, L. T.; Haer, T.; Moel, H.; Orton, P.; Botzen, W. J.; Aerts, J. C. (2022). An agent‐based model for evaluating reforms of the National Flood Insurance Program: A benchmarked model applied to Jamaica Bay, NYC. Risk Analysis. Wiley.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/risa.13905. - Palinkas, C. M.; Orton, P.; Hummel, M. A.; Nardin, W.; Sutton-Grier, A. E.; Harris, L.; Gray, M.; Li, M.; Ball, D.; Burks-Copes, K.; Davlasheridze, M.; De Schipper, M.; George, D. A.; Halsing, D.; Maglio, C.; Marrone, J.; McKay, S. K.; Nutters, H.; Orff, K.; Taal, M.; Van Oudenhoven, A. P.; Veatch, W.; Williams, T. (2022). Innovations in Coastline Management With Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF): Lessons Learned From Three Case Studies. Frontiers in Built Environment (vol. 8). Frontiers Media SA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2022.814180. - Enríquez, A. R.; Wahl, T.; Baranes, H. E.; Talke, S. A.; Orton, P.; Booth, J. F.; Haigh, I. D. (2022). Predictable Changes in Extreme Sea Levels and Coastal Flood Risk Due To Long-Term Tidal Cycles. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (4 ed., vol. 127).
- Zhang, F.; Orton, P. (2022). Importance of Neighborhood Aspect Ratio and Storm Climate to Adaptation Efforts to Reduce Coastal Flood Mortality. Frontiers in Built Environment (vol. 7).
- Miller, L. A.; Orton, P. (2021). Achieving negative emissions through oceanic sequestration of vegetation carbon as Black Pellets. Climatic Change (3-4 ed., vol. 167).
- Strauss, B. H.; Orton, P.; Bittermann, K.; Buchanan, M. K.; Gilford, D. M.; Kopp, R. E.; Kulp, S.; Massey, C.; Moel, H. d.; Vinogradov, S. (2021). Economic damages from Hurricane Sandy attributable to sea level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change. Nature Communications (1 ed., vol. 12). Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22838-1. - Li, S.; Wahl, T.; Talke, S. A.; Jay, D. A.; Orton, P.; Liang, X.; Wang, G.; Liu, L. (2021). Evolving tides aggravate nuisance flooding along the U.S. coastline. Science Advances (10 ed., vol. 7). American Association for the Advancement of Science.
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/10/eabe2412. - Orton, P.; Sanderson, E. W.; Talke, S. A.; Giampieri, M.; MacManus, K. (2020). Storm Tide Amplification and Habitat Changes due to Urbanization of a Lagoonal Estuary. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (9 ed., vol. 20, pp. 2415-2432). Copernicus GmbH.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-2415-2020. - Zhang, F.; Orton, P.; Madajewicz, M.; Jagupilla, S. C.; Bakhtyar, R. (2020). Mortality during Hurricane Sandy: the effects of waterfront flood protection on Staten Island, New York. Natural Hazards (1 ed., vol. 103, pp. 57-85).
- Gurumurthy, P.; Orton, P.; Talke, S. A.; Georgas, N.; Booth, J. F. (2019). Mechanics and historical evolution of sea level blowouts in New York harbor. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (5 ed., vol. 7).
- Gornitz, V.; Oppenheimer, M.; Kopp, R.; Orton, P.; Buchanan, M.; Lin, N.; Horton, R.; Bader, D. (2019). New York City Panel on Climate Change 2019 Report Chapter 3: Sea Level Rise. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1 ed., vol. 1439, pp. 71-94).
- Orton, P.; Lin, N.; Gornitz, V.; Colle, B.; Booth, J.; Feng, K.; Buchanan, M.; Oppenheimer, M.; Patrick, L. (2019). New York City Panel on Climate Change 2019 Report Chapter 4: Coastal Flooding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1 ed., vol. 1439, pp. 95-114).
- Patrick, L.; Solecki, W.; Gornitz, V.; Orton, P.; Blumberg, A. (2019). New York City Panel on Climate Change 2019 Report Chapter 5: Mapping Climate Risk. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1 ed., vol. 1439, pp. 115-125).
- Zhang, F.; Orton, P.; Madajewicz, M.; Jagupilla, S.; Bakhtyar, R.. Hurricane Sandy Staten Island Flood Conditions and Mortality: Did a Waterfront Berm Protect or Endanger Residents. Journal of Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. Gottingen: Copernicus Publications.
Note, Journal
- Orton, P.; Ralston, D.; van Prooijen, B.; Secor, D.; Ganju, N.; Chen, Z.; Fernald, S.; Brooks, B.; Marcell, K. (2023). Increased Utilization of Storm Surge Barriers: A Research Agenda on Estuary Impacts. Earth's Future (3 ed., vol. 11).
Technical Report
- Fischbach, J.; Knopman, D.; Smith, H.; Orton, P.; Sanderson, E.; Fisher, K.; Moray, N.; Friedberg, A.; Parris, A. (2018). Integrated Analysis and Planning to Reduce Coastal Risk, Improve Water Quality, and Restore Ecosystems: Jamaica Bay, New York. Final project report for The Rockefeller Foundation.
http://www.rand.org/t/RR2193.
posted-content
- Orton, P.; Sanderson, E. W.; Talke, S. A.; Giampieri, M.; MacManus, K. (2020). Storm Tide Amplification and Habitat Changes due to Urbanization of a Lagoonal Estuary. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (9 ed., vol. 20, pp. 2415-2432). Copernicus GmbH.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-2415-2020.