Dr Steve Simmons

Dr Steve Simmons

Lecturer in Energy and Environment, Director of Postgraduate Research

Faculty and Department

  • Institutes
  • Energy and Environmental Institute

Qualifications

  • BSc (Durham University)
  • BEng (Newcastle University)
  • PhD / DPhil (Newcastle University)
  • MSc (University of Leeds)

Summary

Steve is a Lecturer in Energy and Environment with a PhD from Newcastle University in underwater acoustics with 25 years' experience of working in academia and industry.

Steve teaches on the MSc in Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Solutions in the Energy and Environment Institute. He currently teaches and provides supervision on the following modules:

Research Skills in Renewable Energy and Low caron Solutions (Module Leader)

Research Challenges

Dissertation

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

Seabed seismographs reveal duration and structure of longest runout sediment flows on Earth

Baker, M. L., Talling, P. J., Burnett, R., Pope, E. L., Ruffell, S. C., Urlaub, M., Clare, M. A., Jenkins, J., Dietze, M., Neasham, J., Silva Jacinto, R., Hage, S., Hasenhündl, M., Simmons, S. M., Heerema, C. J., Heijnen, M. S., Kunath, P., Cartigny, M. J., McGhee, C., & Parsons, D. R. (2024). Seabed seismographs reveal duration and structure of longest runout sediment flows on Earth. Geophysical research letters, 51(23), Article e2024GL111078. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111078

Time-lapse surveys reveal patterns and processes of erosion by exceptionally powerful turbidity currents that flush submarine canyons: A case study of the Congo Canyon

Ruffell, S. C., Talling, P. J., Baker, M. L., Pope, E. L., Heijnen, M. S., Jacinto, R. S., Cartigny, M. J., Simmons, S. M., Clare, M. A., Heerema, C. J., McGhee, C., Hage, S., Hasenhündl, M., & Parsons, D. R. (2024). Time-lapse surveys reveal patterns and processes of erosion by exceptionally powerful turbidity currents that flush submarine canyons: A case study of the Congo Canyon. Geomorphology, 463, Article 109350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2024.109350

Bottom and Suspended Sediment Backscatter Measurements in a Flume—Towards Quantitative Bed and Water Column Properties

Van Dijk, T. A., Roche, M., Lurton, X., Fezzani, R., Simmons, S. M., Gastauer, S., Fietzek, P., Mesdag, C., Berger, L., Klein Breteler, M., & Parsons, D. R. (2024). Bottom and Suspended Sediment Backscatter Measurements in a Flume—Towards Quantitative Bed and Water Column Properties. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12(4), Article 609. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12040609

Morphometric fingerprints and downslope evolution in bathymetric surveys: insights into morphodynamics of the Congo canyon-channel

Hasenhündl, M., Talling, P. J., Pope, E. L., Baker, M. L., Heijnen, M. S., Ruffell, S. C., da Silva Jacinto, R., Jacinto, S., Gaillot, A., Hage, S., Simmons, S. M., Heerema, C. J., McGhee, C., Clare, M. A., & Cartigny, M. J. (2024). Morphometric fingerprints and downslope evolution in bathymetric surveys: insights into morphodynamics of the Congo canyon-channel. Frontiers in Earth Science, 12, Article 1381019. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2024.1381019

Monopile-induced turbulence and sediment redistribution form visible wakes in offshore wind farms

Bailey, L. P., Dorrell, R. M., Kostakis, I., McKee, D., Parsons, D., Rees, J., Strong, J., Simmons, S., & Forster, R. (2024). Monopile-induced turbulence and sediment redistribution form visible wakes in offshore wind farms. Frontiers in Earth Science, 12, Article 1383726. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2024.1383726

Research interests

Steve has research interests in the development of our understanding of sedimentary processes through the application of novel acoustic measurements of flow and sediment transport over scales ranging from the laboratory flume to the deep ocean. He has published work on the application of these methods to the interactions of marine renewable energy installations with flow and sediment transport. His work in the environmental sciences has been fundamental to developing a better understanding of the driving forces of seafloor avalanches of sediment called turbidity currents.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Meltwater driven sediment delivery into a glacier-fed fjord, Greenland (MELT)

Funder

The Royal Society

Grant

£16,700.00

Started

31 January 2022

Status

Complete

Project

Industry-Led Lost Fishing Gear Locating Service for the Holderness Coast

Funder

DEFRA

Grant

£2,000.00

Started

1 July 2022

Status

Complete

Project

Quantifying sediment fluxes from acoustic Doppler current profilers

Funder

Environment Agency

Grant

£9,850.00

Started

1 March 2018

Status

Complete

Project

Developing a Global Listening Network for Turbidity Currents and Seafloor Processes

Funder

Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£9,462.00

Started

1 April 2019

Status

Complete

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

How do deep-ocean turbidity currents behave that form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth?

Funder

Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£350,710.60

Started

1 April 2019

Status

Ongoing

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD supervisions

- Ye Chen, Knickpoint Dynamics in Turbidite Systems

- Niall Tracey, Novel Acoustic Methods for Directly Monitoring Seabed Sediment Transport, Geo-hazards & Scour

- Ellie Goodfellow, Array-scale sediment transport processes in offshore wind energy

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