Stephen P. Leatherman

Florida International University | FIU · Department of Earth and Environment

This review presents a systematic and holistic approach to managing and mitigating beach accidents, emphasizing the intricate balance between human safety, environmental stewardship, and the economic vitality of coastal destinations. This study underlines the importance of classifying beach accidents by severity and type to tailor response strategi...

Leatherman, S.P. and Leatherman, S.B., 2024. Population projections of invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades. Journal of Coastal Research, 40(1), 223–227. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Burmese pythons were introduced to South Florida through the pet trade; first sightings in Everglades National Park occurred in the 1980s....

Allan was born on November 14, 1937, at 5 Vernon Street, Briton Ferry, Neath, to parents Doug and Loreen. At the age of 3, his family moved into the Harp Hotel, where he would spend his formative years. A gifted athlete, Allan represented Neath Grammar School in rugby, athletics, and badminton. Despite his initial struggles as a scholar, scoring a...

The beach is a vast environment filled with varied animal species, most of which are benign to humans or indifferent to their occasional interactions. One of the animals most associated with interactions in both marine and freshwater beach environments are snakes. These interactions can be traumatic events that may sometimes have tragic consequence...

The Florida Everglades is a unique and fragile coastal wetland ecosystem that is undergoing a decades-long, large-scale ecological restoration. This freshwater ecosystem in southern Florida has been stressed by diminishment of freshwater flow and water diversion due to agricultural activities and urbanization. The health of this vast ecosystem is a...

Bakers Haulover Inlet in Miami-Dade County, Florida, is an important waterway for recreational boaters connecting Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. The dredging of the Haulover sandbar (properly termed the flood tidal delta) by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is very controversial because it has become a major attraction for boaters. This narrow...

Rip currents are the greatest danger at surf beaches. Professional lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people every year at U.S. beaches, but only a small percentage of the nation’s beaches are guarded. Oftentimes it is a young person who is caught in a rip current, and a bystander will attempt a rescue without a flotation device. The U.S. Lifes...

South America exhibits a wide diversity of coasts from icy, deep fjords along the Chilean Pacific Coast to the muddy, tropical mangrove coast of Venezuela. Fortunately, this continent is not subject to hurricanes or typhoons; but winter coastal storms can be quite damaging, especially along the Atlantic sandy shores and cliffs of unconsolidated sed...

During the past few decades recreational pressures on coastal ecosystems have greatly increased. These impacts can be grouped into two basic categories: pedestrian trampling and off-road vehicle traffic. Field studies at Assateague Island National Seashore have been focused on monitoring foredune vegetational and elevational changes in ORV-impacted...

A quantitative analysis of historical aerial photographs and maps coupled with detailed field surveys provided the data necessary to assess the importance of over-wash processes and vegetative recovery on Nauset Spit, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Development of all plant communities and physiographic features is extremely rapid on the spit. Dunes are e...

Cape Cod is a relatively young feature in terms of geologic time, having been formed by glaciers about 14,000 years ago. These original glacial deposits, consisting primarily of unconsolidated sands and gravels, have been reshaped during rising sea levels by winds, waves, and currents to form the distinctive outline of the Cape. What was initially...

The northern part of Assateague Island, Maryland, has a history of rapid shoreline erosion, with washovers much in evidence. A comparison of aerial photography shows that the greatest island widths and highest rates of landward migration are associated with inlet dynamics. The over-wash process, at maximum transport conditions in this sand-starved...

The response of sandy shorelines to sea-level rise is erosion unless offset by ample sediment supply. Geomorphic indicators of shore retreat include beach, dune, and cliff erosion as well as backbarrier peat outcrops on the barrier beachface. Quantitative analysis of historical maps and aerial photographs also indicate pervasive erosion along the U...

A significant portion of the world's population lives within the coastal zone, with many buildings and facilities built at elevations less than ten feet above sea level along the shoreline. Presently, many of these structures are not adequately above existing water levels or located far enough landward to ensure their survival and the safety of res...

Coastal erosion anomalies occur at a number of locations along the U.S. East and Gulf Coast. Although jettied inlets are often responsible for their occurrence, other causes have been identified. Shoreline realignment after closure of a historic inlet around the turn of the century has caused a long-term erosional problem along eastern Jones Beach...

This study develops a method to identify the depth of closure using airborne laser bathymetric data, and compares the measured depth of closure to calculated depth of closures and subaqueous geomorphic units. Airborne laser data sets were collected before and after the 2004 hurricane season along 100 km of beaches in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-...

This paper quantifi es the shoreline and volume change utilizing three LIDAR data sets that were collected in Palm Beach County before and after the 2004 hurricane season. The beaches in Palm Beach County were signifi cantly affected by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. Shoreline positions were extracted from the LIDAR-derived digital elevation models...

Zhang, K.; Zhang, M.C.; Leatherman, S.B., and Leatherman, S.P., 2020. Rip current hazard analysis. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 969–973. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The effect of rip currents on swimmers was analyzed based on the drag force...

Rip currents are the number one hazard to bathers at surf beaches. They form as water trapped on the beach moves in a concentrated flow offshore. Miami Beach, Florida is a popular tourist destination and also one of the most deadly beaches in the United States regarding rip-related fatalities. In this study, surveys were used to quantify the public...

The use of alternative teaching methods to lectures is one of the keys to develop a more participatory and effective education. In the teaching of Geography, greater interaction of students with elements of the landscape through the active use of photography could be one of the ways to achieve this efficiency. This article describes an experiment c...

Rip currents are fast moving, offshore flows that have the ability to move even the strongest swimmers into deeper waters. Miami Beach, Florida is one of the most visited beaches in the USA and a sought after destination for citizens and international tourists alike. It is also known to be a rip current “hot spot.” These factors greatly increase th...

Global sea levels have risen through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This rise will almost certainly continue and probably accelerate during the rest of the twenty-first century, albeit there is strong disagreement about the range of future sea level rise due to uncertainties regarding scenarios and emission of greenhouse gasses. Although...

Coastal erosion and its impact on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as the economic viability and environmental integrity of coastal communities is a major concern of the United States. Homes along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts face a risk from erosion that is comparable to that of coastal flooding. However, the NFIP does not...

A significant portion of the world's population lives within the coastal zone, with many buildings and facilities located at elevations only a few meters above mean sea level. These structures are presently subject to damage during major storms, and this hazard has grown increasingly worse as sea levels have risen during the past century. Global wa...

Leatherman, S. P., 2014. Rip current: Science and threat communication. There have been major advances in defining the nature of rip currents and how to communicate this threat to the public. The 3rd International Rip Current Symposium built upon previous professional gatherings and further advanced our understanding of these dangerous currents. It...

Rip currents are powerful, channeled currents of water that flow offshore from beaches. These dangerous currents are the most serious hazard that threatens bather safety on the world’s surf beaches. In the United States, more people drown in rips annually than are killed by hurricanes, tornadoes or lightning. Florida has the highest loss of life be...

Undertow, rip current, and riptide are terms used to describe a variety of currents, all of which have different characteristics. However, much of the general public, news media, and even dictionary definitions confuse and misidentify these potential hazards at surf beaches. Many beachgoers use the terms interchangeably, when in fact they are disti...

Beach litter is harmful and costly in many ways, and the number one form of litter on U.S. beaches is cigarette butts. Campaigns for smokeless beaches have been based largely on environment and aesthetics, but health and economic factors are also important. Beach tourism is often the most important source of revenue for coastal communities, and sur...

The U.S. coast from Maine to Texas is vulnerable to hurricane impacts. Hurricane-induced economic losses have steadily increased in recent decades. At the same time, trillions of dollars have been invested in coastal development to accommodate the increasing population; therefore, the socioeconomic impacts of hurricane landfalls will also escalate....

Rip currents are the greatest hazard at surf beaches. Beachgoers are often unaware that nearshore currents exist, much less that they can be life threatening. Pro-active beach management needs to be undertaken to reduce the large number of rescues, near-drowning events, and loss of life at U.S. and worldwide beaches.

Barrier islands, the dominant geomorphic features along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, are a favorite place for living and visiting. Unfortunately, barrier islands are vulnerable to storm-surge flooding and erosion because of low elevations and the movement of sand by waves and tides. In order to estimate the impacts of surge flooding, sea-leve...

The human and financial toll of hurricanes on U.S. east and gulf coast communities has been immense. The International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University focuses on a first-of-its-kind full-scale destructive testing method that can lead to understanding of hurricane-structure interaction and development of effective mitig...

The International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) has developed a new research approach to better understand hurricane-induced effects on residential and low-rise commercial buildings through full-scale, destructive testing, much the same way that the automobile industry tackled the crash worthiness issue and the earthquake community approached bu...

LEATHERMAN, S.P.; CHOWDHURY, A.G., and ROBERTSON, C.J., 2007. Wall of wind full-scale, destructive testing of coastal houses and hurricane damage mitigation. Journal of Coastal Research, 23(5), 1211–1217. West Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Damages during extreme wind events highlight the weaknesses inherent in coastal residential building c...

The growth of hurricane‐induced losses from US$1.3 billion per year before 1990 to US$36 billion per year after 2000 [ National Science Board, 2007 ] is a direct result of over 50 years of accumulated socioeconomic decisions to invest in physical infrastructure and community development along coastlines. Fifty percent of the U.S. population now liv...

Four propositions drawn from 60 years of natural hazard and reconstruction research provide a comparative and historical perspective on the reconstruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Decisions taken over its 288-year history that have made New Orleans so vulnerable to Katrina reflect a long-term pattern of societal response to hazard ev...

Hurricanes are a major source for erosion and damage along the southeastern US coastline. This study uses airborne LIDAR data to quantify shoreline change due to Hurricane Ivan. Hurricane Ivan made landfall on the Alabama gulf coast in September, 2004 with maximum sustained winds of 58 m/s. Five separate LIDAR data sets of barrier beaches situated...

Quantitative data on beach changes caused by coastal storms is critical to the understanding of coastal morphodynamics and mitigation of coastal erosion hazards. Recent advances in airborne LIDAR technology allow large-scale mapping of beach erosion, dune scarping, and overwash deposition with incredible detail. By comparing 40 km of beaches along...