Carl Friedrichs
Professor of Marine Science
College of William and Mary / Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Dr. Carl Friedrichs is a Professor in the School of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary and Director of the Coastal Hydrodynamics and Sediment Dynamics (CHSD) Laboratory at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Since joining the faculty at William and Mary in 1993, Dr. Friedrichs has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including the William & Mary Alumni Fellowship Teaching Award, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award, and, from the White House, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Dr. Friedrichs has authored or co-authored 64 peer-reviewed publications on the subject of coastal oceanography and has been the lead investigator at William & Mary on 21 federally funded research grants. His two largest grants to date both began in 2006: A $1.7 million award from the Office of Naval Research to develop real-time physical and chemical sensors for detecting hazards in the Chesapeake Bay and a $1.9 million award from NSF to supplement this observing system with acoustic and optical sensors for documenting interactions between sediment transport and estuarine organisms.
Among other fundamental contributions, Dr. Friedrichs’ work has helped revolutionize oceanographers’ understanding of how material eroded from the land moves across the continental shelf and, ultimately, forms the deposits that create sedimentary rocks. Dr. Friedrichs has helped establish a new paradigm regarding the key role of sediment “gravity flows” – akin to underwater avalanches – in moving sediment away from shore. These gravity flows can move much more sediment offshore than most other mechanisms, leading to more rapid formation of seabed deposits than previously thought possible.
In addition to teaching numerous highly regarded Marine Science courses, Dr. Friedrichs has given over 100 invited talks at regional, national, and international workshops and conferences, and at departmental and institutional seminars across the U.S. and around the world. Eight graduate students are presently advised by Dr. Friedrichs in the CHSD Lab, and all his past Ph.D. students have gone on to teaching or research positions at other universities. Over the years, Dr. Friedrichs has also advised research projects for 17 undergraduates and 8 high school students.
His Dean has written, “Dr. Friedrichs possesses an unusual ability to work across the traditional disciplines of marine, earth, and environmental science. He combines this special ability with an impeccable level of rigor and lucid grasp of the first principles of the scientific fields.” An undergraduate advisee stated, “[He] helped me develop an appreciation of the scientific research process through his exceptional abilities as a mentor, advisor, and teacher, and I feel so lucky to have been able to work with him.”
