Climate-based emulation
Stochastic and weather-type frameworks for long-term, multivariate coastal climate simulation.
Research
Modelling coastal hazards in a changing climate.
My work develops hybrid downscaling, climate emulators and open tools that connect large-scale climate drivers with local coastal impacts.
Hybrid downscaling
Fast surrogate models that retain the physical insight of numerical models at a fraction of their cost.
Impact forecasting
Operational systems for waves, flooding, shoreline change and tropical-cyclone hazards.
Selected work
Recent publications
The role of El Niño–Southern Oscillation in driving coastal hazards in the U.S. Pacific Northwest
Meredith Leung, Peter Ruggiero, Laura Cagigal, Dylan Anderson & Fernando Méndez.
Read article ↗A forty-year regional-scale dataset of shoreline change and nearshore wave conditions in Southeast Australia
Mao, Vos, Cagigal et al. A regional resource linking shoreline evolution with its nearshore wave forcing.
Article ↗Interannual wave-driven shoreline change on the California coast
O’Reilly, Merrifield, Cagigal et al. Connecting wave variability with observed coastal change.
Article ↗HyWaThy: Hybrid modeling of nearshore waves with different bathymetric states
An efficient hybrid approach that accounts for changing nearshore bathymetry.
Article ↗Future climate projections in the global coastal ocean
A global synthesis of progress and priorities for coastal-ocean climate projections.
Article ↗BinWaves: An additive hybrid method to downscale directional wave spectra
A highly efficient framework for translating offshore directional spectra to nearshore conditions.
Article ↗Climate-based emulator of distant swell trains and local seas approaching a Pacific atoll
A multivariate emulator designed for complex, multimodal Pacific wave climates.
Article ↗Research portfolio
Selected projects
Pacific climate indicators
Monitoring, early-warning systems and capacity building for WMO Region V and the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment.
TWINPEACS
Towards a digital twin for physical and socio-economic analysis of coastal systems.
Indo-Pacific sea-level resilience
A framework for interdependent resilience under sea-level rise, supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
Samoa & Tonga impact forecasting
Seasonal outlook and short-term impact forecasting systems for tropical cyclones and coastal hazards.
Laura’s full record includes 34 peer-reviewed Q1 articles and participation in 17 national and international projects.
Complete record on ORCID ↗