Dr Michela De Dominicis

Biography

I am a Senior Scientist in the NOC’s Marine System Modelling Group. I am a physical oceanographer with a 15+ years expertise in marine numerical modelling (hydrodynamic, wave and Lagrangian models). My research studies how the ocean interacts with human activities. I use ocean computer simulations to predict how the ocean will change in the future decades under different “what-if” scenarios. This means for example investigating what is going to happen in the ocean if we install many offshore renewable energy devices (such as wind turbines and underwater tidal turbines). It means also studying the effects of climate change in coastal areas and understanding if natural habitats could help to protect our coastlines.

Read more about me in the NOC Scientist Spotlight.

PUBLICATIONS:

Google Scholar Profile

ORCID

PRESS & MEDIA : 

WATCH or LISTEN  my Into the Blue Podcast about Ocean Power.

Read about my work on WIREDTIMENEW SCIENTISTExpress.co.ukDISCOVER MAGAZINE and MONGABAY.

 

Projects

I am now working on two projects that both started in 2022.

One is the Physics-to-Ecosystem Level Assessment of Impacts of Offshore Windfarms (PELAgIO) project. The project will assess the impact of offshore wind farms on marine environments, marine wildlife, and wider ecosystem structures, using a combination of ocean models and observations.

We will collect measurements from close to wind farms, to understand changes in the cycling of nutrients, oxygen and phytoplankton that are the bases for the food chain that supports fish, seabirds and big marine mammals. These measurements are extremely important, because they will help us to build a better model representation of an offshore wind farm. We can use this increased understanding to then predict future physical and biological changes under different future scenarios of climate change and expansion of offshore wind farm. We will then link those changes with the effects they will have on marine populations at all levels of the food webs.

Another is the UK Coastal Hazards, Multi-hazard Controls on Flooding and Erosion (CHAMFER) project. I am building a new coastal ocean model for the UK coast, that should help to better represent how tides, storm surges, waves and rivers interact in the coastal areas. We will use it to run present and future climate simulations. This is extremely important to understand the response of coastal areas to extreme storms now and with future sea level rise, and what the possible coastal protection measures are. These measures include understanding the coastal protection benefits of natural habitats, known also as nature-based coastal defences. 

I was the NOC PI of the CHASANS project (2020-2024), delivering larval connectivity models for guidance on decommissioning and derogation of artificial structures in the North Sea.

I was the PI of the Scottish Shelf Waters Reanalysis Service (2019-2020), which provided a high-resolution simulation of the Scottish Waters physical marine environment, delivered as a downstream service of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service.

In the ANCODE project (2018-2021), I studied how the world’s largest urban area (the Pearl River Delta) will respond to extreme storms and sea level rise and whether nature-based defences can be used as a coastal protection defence. Read more about it here.

My recent research focused also on the evaluation of potential impacts of very large tidal stream arrays and climate change, as part of the EcoWatt2050 project (2015-2017) and of the Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub (2018–2021).

I was involved in the modelling of storm surges, waves, and tides in the context of climate change for the SUCCESS project (2017) and for the Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme.

In the past, I was involved in the development of forecasting systems for the management of oil pollution in the Mediterranean Sea in the PRIMI project (2007–2010) and as work package leader in the MEDESS4MS (2012-2015) and EMODNET MedSea (2014–2015) projects.

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Publications

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Authors

Holt, Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3298-8477; Katavouta, Anna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1587-4996; Hopkins, Joanne; Amoudry, Laurent O.; Appendini, Christian M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6044-3351; Arneborg, Lars ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0248-8110; Arnold, Alex; Artioli, Yuri; Aucan, Jerome ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9883-0082; Berx, Barbara; Cagigal, Laura; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Denamiel, Cléa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5099-1143; Galli, Giovanni; Graham, Jennifer A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1950-5266; Jacobs, Zoe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7348-0699; Jevrejeva, Svetlana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9490-4665; Kamranzad, Bahareh ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8829-6007; Langlais, Clothilde ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6423-7678; Larsen, Morten Andreas Dahl; Lira-Loarca, Andrea ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2251-6684; Lyddon, Charlotte ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4254-3049; Mathis, Moritz; Melet, Angélique ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3888-8159; Méndez, Fernando; Muis, Sanne; Myers, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4514-2654; O’Donovan, Mairéad; Olbert, Agnieszka Indiana; Palmer, Matthew D.; Phillips, Lachlan; Polton, Jeff ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0131-5250; Buil, Mercedes Pozo; Robins, Peter; Ruju, Andrea; Schlaefer, Jodie A.; Senatore, Alfonso ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9716-3532; Siedlecki, Samantha; Tinker, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3160-7000; Verri, Giorgia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7561-618X; Vilibić, Ivica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0753-5775; Wei, Xiaoyan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8407-6958; Pinardi, Nadia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4765-0775. 2025 Future climate projections in the global coastal ocean. Progress in Oceanography, 235, 103497. 1, pp. 10.1016/j.pocean.2025.103497

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Authors

Jevrejeva, Svetlana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9490-4665; Calafat, Francisco M.; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Hirschi, Joël J.‐M.; Mecking, Jennifer V.; Polton, Jeff A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0131-5250; Sinha, Bablu; Wise, Anthony; Holt, Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3298-8477. 2024 Challenges, advances and opportunities in regional sea level projections: The role of ocean‐shelf dynamics. Earth's Future, 12 (8). 10.1029/2024ef004886

Publication year

2024

Publication type

Article

Authors

Barton, Benjamin I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-2064; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; O’Hara Murray, Rory; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; Gallego, Alejandro. 2024 Formation and dynamics of a coherent coastal freshwater influenced system. Earth and Space Science, 11 (2). 10.1029/2023ea002872

Publication year

2024

Publication type

Article

Authors

Knights, Antony M.; Lemasson, Anaëlle J.; Firth, Louise B.; Bond, Todd; Claisse, Jeremy; Coolen, Joop W.P.; Copping, Andrea; Dannheim, Jennifer; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Degraer, Steven; Elliott, Michael; Fernandes, Paul G.; Fowler, Ashley M.; Frost, Matt; Henry, Lea-Anne; Hicks, Natalie; Hyder, Kieran; Jagerroos, Sylvia; Jones, Daniel O.B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5218-1649; Love, Milton; Lynam, Christopher P.; Macreadie, Peter I.; Marlow, Joseph; Mavraki, Ninon; McLean, Dianne; Montagna, Paul A.; Paterson, David M.; Perrow, Martin; Porter, Joanne; Russell, Debbie J.F.; Bull, Ann Scarborough; Schratzberger, Michaela; Shipley, Brooke; van Elden, Sean; Vanaverbeke, Jan; Want, Andrew; Watson, Stephen C.L.; Wilding, Thomas A.; Somerfield, Paul. 2024 Developing expert scientific consensus on the environmental and societal effects of marine artificial structures prior to decommissioning. Journal of Environmental Management, 352, 119897. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119897

Publication year

2024

Publication type

Article

Authors

De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; van Hespen, Rosanna; Zheng, Peng; Hu, Zhan. 2023 Mangrove forests can be an effective coastal defence in the Pearl River Delta, China. Communications Earth & Environment, 4 (1). 10.1038/s43247-022-00672-7

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Authors

Knights, Antony M.; Lemasson, Anaëlle J.; Firth, Louise B.; Beaumont, Nicola; Birchenough, Silvana; Claisse, Jeremy; Coolen, Joop W.P.; Copping, Andrea; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Degraer, Steven; Elliott, Michael; Fernandes, Paul G.; Fowler, Ashley M.; Frost, Matthew; Henry, Lea-Anne; Hicks, Natalie; Hyder, Kieran; Jagerroos, Sylvia; Love, Milton; Lynam, Chris; Macreadie, Peter I.; McLean, Dianne; Marlow, Joseph; Mavraki, Ninon; Montagna, Paul A.; Paterson, David M.; Perrow, Martin R.; Porter, Joanne; Bull, Ann Scarborough; Schratzberger, Michaela; Shipley, Brooke; van Elden, Sean; Vanaverbeke, Jan; Want, Andrew; Watson, Stephen C.L.; Wilding, Thomas A.; Somerfield, Paul J.. 2023 To what extent can decommissioning options for marine artificial structures move us toward environmental targets? Journal of Environmental Management, 350, 119644. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119644

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Authors

Polton, Jeff A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0131-5250; Harle, James; Holt, Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3298-8477; Katavouta, Anna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1587-4996; Partridge, Dale; Jardine, Jenny; Wakelin, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2081-2693; Rulent, Julia; Wise, Anthony; Hutchinson, Katherine; Byrne, David; Bruciaferri, Diego; O'Dea, Enda; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Mathiot, Pierre; Coward, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9111-7700; Yool, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9879-2776; Palmieri, Julien ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0226-5243; Lessin, Gennadi; Mayorga-Adame, Gabriela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8707-9385; Le Guennec, Valerie; Arnold, Alex; Rousset, Clement. 2023 Reproducible and relocatable regional ocean modelling: Fundamentals and practices. Geoscientific Model Development. 10.5194/gmd-2022-217

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Authors

van Hespen, Rosanna; Hu, Zhan; Borsje, Bas; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Friess, Daniel A.; Jevrejeva, Svetlana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9490-4665; Kleinhans, Maarten G.; Maza, Maria; van Bijsterveldt, Celine E.J.; Van der Stocken, Tom; van Wesenbeeck, Bregje; Xie, Danghan; Bouma, Tjeerd J.. 2022 Mangrove forests as a nature-based solution for coastal flood protection: Biophysical and ecological considerations. Water Science and Engineering. 10.1016/j.wse.2022.10.004

Publication year

2022

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2022

Publication type

Article

Authors

Hu, Zhan; Borsje, Bas W.; Belzen, Jim; Willemsen, Pim W. J. M.; Wang, Heng; Peng, Yisheng; Yuan, Lin; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; Temmerman, Stijn; Bouma, Tjeerd J.. 2021 Mechanistic modeling of marsh seedling establishment provides a positive outlook for coastal wetland restoration under global climate change. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (22). 10.1029/2021GL095596

Publication year

2021

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2021

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2021

Publication type

Article

Authors

Zheng, Peng; Li, Ming; Wang, Caixia; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; Chen, Xueen; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Yao, Peng; Hu, Zhan. 2020 Tide-surge interaction in the Pearl River Estuary: A case study of Typhoon Hato. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 236. 10.3389/fmars.2020.00236

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Article

Authors

Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; Becker, Amani; Bricheno, Lucy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4751-9366; Brown, Jenny ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3894-4651; Byrne, David; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Phillips, Benjamin. 2020 Guidance note on the application of coastal modelling for small island developing states. Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, 47pp. (National Oceanography Centre Research and Consultancy Report, 73)

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Monograph

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Conference item

Authors

Sadykova, Dinara; Scott, Beth E.; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Wakelin, Sarah L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2081-2693; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; Sadykov, Alexander. 2020 Ecological costs of climate change on marine predator–prey population distributions by 2050. Ecology and Evolution, 10 (2). 1069-1086. 10.1002/ece3.5973

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Article

Authors

Zazzini, Simone; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Pini, Agnese; Leuzzi, Giovanni; Monti, Paolo; O’Hara Murray, Rory; Li, Xiaorong. 2019 Turbulence changes due to a tidal stream turbine operation in the Pentland Firth (Scotland, UK). In: 2019 IMEKO TC-19 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea, Genoa, Italy, October 3-5, 2019.

Publication year

2019

Publication type

Conference item

Authors

De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221; O'Hara Murray, Rory. 2018 Comparative effects of climate change and tidal stream energy extraction in a shelf sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123 (7). 5041-5067. 10.1029/2018JC013832

Publication year

2018

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2017

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2017

Publication type

Article

Authors

De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Murray, Rory O'Hara; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221. 2017 Extracting energy from tidal currents: The ocean response at multiple space and time scales. In: OCEANS 2017, Aberdeen, 19-22 June 2017. 1-7.

Publication year

2017

Publication type

Conference item

Authors

Scott, B. E.; Sadykova, D.; Sadykova, A.; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Wakelin, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2081-2693; Wolf, Judith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-8221. 2017 Local vs Global: How to assess the ecological cost and benefits of large scale renewables? In: OCEANS 2017, Aberdeen, 19-22 June 2017. 1-2.

Publication year

2017

Publication type

Conference item

Authors

Zodiatis, George; Coppini, Giovanni; Perivoliotis, Leonidas; Lardner, Robin; Alves, Tiago; Pinardi, Nadia; Liubartseva, Svitlana; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Bourma, Evi; Sepp Neves, Antonio Augusto. 2017 Numerical modeling of oil pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. In: Oil Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea: Part I. Cham, Springer, 215-254. (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, 83, 83).

Publication year

2017

Publication type

Book section

Authors

De Dominicis, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Bruciaferri, D.; Gerin, R.; Pinardi, N.; Poulain, P.M.; Garreau, P.; Zodiatis, G.; Perivoliotis, L.; Fazioli, L.; Sorgente, R.; Manganiello, C.. 2016 A multi-model assessment of the impact of currents, waves and wind in modelling surface drifters and oil spill. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 133. 21-38. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.04.002

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Authors

Pisano, A.; De Dominicis, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Biamino, W.; Bignami, F.; Gherardi, S.; Colao, F.; Coppini, G.; Marullo, S.; Sprovieri, M.; Trivero, P.; Zambianchi, E.; Santoleri, R.. 2016 An oceanographic survey for oil spill monitoring and model forecasting validation using remote sensing and in situ data in the Mediterranean Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 133. 132-145. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.02.013

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Authors

Sorgente, R.; Tedesco, C.; Pessini, F.; De Dominicis, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Gerin, R.; Olita, A.; Fazioli, L.; Di Maio, A.; Ribotti, A.. 2016 Forecast of drifter trajectories using a Rapid Environmental Assessment based on CTD observations. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 133. 39-53. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.06.020

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Authors

Zodiatis, G.; De Dominicis, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Perivoliotis, L.; Radhakrishnan, H.; Georgoudis, E.; Sotillo, M.; Lardner, R.W.; Krokos, G.; Bruciaferri, D.; Clementi, E.; Guarnieri, A.; Ribotti, A.; Drago, A.; Bourma, E.; Padorno, E.; Daniel, P.; Gonzalez, G.; Chazot, C.; Gouriou, V.; Kremer, X.; Sofianos, S.; Tintore, J.; Garreau, P.; Pinardi, N.; Coppini, G.; Lecci, R.; Pisano, A.; Sorgente, R.; Fazioli, L.; Soloviev, D.; Stylianou, S.; Nikolaidis, A.; Panayidou, X.; Karaolia, A.; Gauci, A.; Marcati, A.; Caiazzo, L.; Mancini, M.. 2016 The Mediterranean Decision Support System for Marine Safety dedicated to oil slicks predictions. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 133. 4-20. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.07.014

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Authors

Liubartseva, Svitlana; Coppini, Giovanni; Pinardi, Nadia; De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Lecci, Rita; Turrisi, Giuseppe; Cretì, Sergio; Martinelli, Sara; Agostini, Paola; Marra, Palmalisa; Palermo, Francesco. 2016 Decision support system for emergency management of oil spill accidents in the Mediterranean Sea. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 16 (8). 2009-2020. 10.5194/nhess-16-2009-2016

Publication year

2016

Publication type

Article

Authors

De Dominicis, Michela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-7939; Pinardi, N.; Zodiatis, G.; Lardner, R.. 2013 MEDSLIK-II, a Lagrangian marine surface oil spill model for short-term forecasting – Part 1: Theory. Geoscientific Model Development, 6 (6). 1851-1869. 10.5194/gmd-6-1851-2013

Publication year

2013

Publication type

Article