An associate professor in ocean engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, Dr. Julie Pullen is a member of the Waterfront Alliance board of trustees. Her work focuses on the interaction of ocean and atmospheric currents; she researches how the flow of water responds to winds moving around island topography, mountainous or urban. She is especially interested in the dynamics of coastal urban regions, particularly wind interactions with city structures. She was recently elected to be the physical oceanography councilor for the governing body of The Oceanography Society. She serves on the international GODAE (Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment) Coastal Ocean and Shelf Seas Task Team and on the advisory board of the Federation of American Scientists, among other honors and positions. Julie is also an adjunct research scientist and past Marie Tharp visiting fellow at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. Julie spoke with WaterWire about what motivates her to do this work and how she got to where she is today.

Growing up, how did you gravitate toward ocean engineering? 
I always was very drawn to fluid flows. As a child, I would drop sticks into the rivulets that formed in the dirt road in front of our house when it rained, and watch what happened. All along in school, when I got to choose projects, it was always about fluids. Eventually, I started to think more grandly about planetary fluid dynamics, in terms of the ocean and the atmosphere.

Your expertise is in ocean/atmosphere interaction for forecasting the natural dynamics of coastal urban regions. Please tell us about some of your recent research. 
I’ve been fortunate to be involved in a project in the Philippines. We’ve been making discoveries about how the ocean and the atmosphere interact using computer models and observations. One of the most rewarding parts of my career has been discovering how the winds around the mountains of the Philippines move and drive the ocean currents and how the mountains determine the rainfall patterns.

The Philippines are an archipelago. We’re looking at other island systems, specifically at Madeira off the northwest coast of Africa, to be able to isolate the wind effect and dynamics of a single mountainous island.

The other piece we are connecting is the hydrology–rivers contribute so much to the coastal realm by delivering freshwater to the ocean when the rain falls on land. So we need to take account of these linkages between air, sea, and rivers with our models.

New York City is an archipelago. Have you done this type of research in your own backyard? 
Yes, I also look at city structures—skyscrapers—and how they influence wind flow patterns and impact water circulation. If there were an accidental or deliberate release of contaminants in an urban area, we’re mapping where it would go. I became involved in this area of research post-911 while I was a Science Fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security & Cooperation.

Your research helps to predict chemical, biological, and radiological dispersion in coastal cities. You’ve also developed nuclear issues education initiatives and a graduate course on nuclear security and terrorism. Has this work made you feel more or less secure?
The Doomsday Clock, representing the threat of a catastrophic nuclear incident, is closer to midnight than it has ever been since 1949, 1953, and 1984. But there are a lot of technologies that have been, and are being, developed for detection and interdiction, that make me feel a lot safer. And we have several government agencies focused on these issues that do a terrific job. This combination makes us more secure as a nation.

This year’s Waterfront Conference on May 12 has an exciting new student component. The Waterfront Alliance and Arcadis will be naming 100 students as Waterfront Scholars and inviting them to participate in the conference. In your own undergraduate and graduate education, you’ve crisscrossed the country, from college in Minnesota to graduate studies in Arizona and Oregon. What’s your advice to students? 
I would encourage students to reach out to the things that inspire them. For me, this manifested as an undergrad. As a junior, I was reading about the Santa Fe Institute, a new think tank focused on complex adaptive systems. I called them to find out more, and they said I was the first undergraduate who had ever contacted them. They asked me to be their first undergraduate intern. That experience has had such a profound impact on my career. I worked with an evolutionary biologist, and the whole experience really opened my mind to the excitement of science. To a certain extent, and this is what I would want to get across to students, you create and seize your own opportunities.

What are your thoughts about encouraging more young women to take STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses?  
What I’ve heard from young women is that it really helps when they can see examples of women in science professions. It’s important not to underestimate the impact of more women in leadership in academic science, private industry science—to see a variety of ways that women can do science at a professional level.

As a member of the Waterfront Alliance Board of Trustees, you head the policy committee, and this year you’re also co-chairing the Waterfront Conference planning committee. Considering this year’s conference theme—defining and delivering equity at the waterfront—how is the New York and New Jersey region doing when it comes to equitable access to jobs, education, transportation, and recreation on the waterfront? 
Equity is a key issue for this year’s conference. It’s important to look at the historical development of urban areas in New York and New Jersey. They have their own footprints in terms of how the waterfront has evolved to accommodate multiple uses. There are lots of great examples of waterfront access such as the Hoboken waterfront, Brooklyn Bridge Park, or Hudson River Park that are examples for other areas. These were all dedicated, sustained efforts whose development was tied into the communities in which they were created. Other areas in New Jersey and Staten Island are ripe for this kind of evolution.

What’s your favorite stretch of waterfront? 
Hudson River Park, particularly Pier 25 and upcoming development on Pier 26. I can’t wait for the Estuarium on Pier 26. My family and I have so enjoyed seeing the park develop and being part of the recreation along this section of waterfront.

Thank you, Julie!