James M. Thomson
Assistant Professor, Environmental Fluid Mechanics
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Jim Thomson was raised on the coast of Maine and worked in the sailing industry there prior to beginning a career in fluid mechanics. After completing a PhD in MIT's joint program with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he joined the University of Washington's Applied Physics Lab in 2006. In 2009, he began a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
EDUCATION
PhD, MIT/WHOI, Physical Oceanography, 2006Dissertation: Infragravity waves over topography
BA, Middlebury College, Physics, 2000
Thesis: Emergent complexity of simple fluid systems
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Environmental fluid mechanics
Coastal oceanography and morphodynamics
Surface-gravity waves
Field observations and remote sensing
TEACHING
CEE 342 Fluid Mechanics
PUBLICATIONS
Thomson, J. J.R. Gemmrich, and A.T. Jessup, Energy dissipation and the spectral distribution of whitecaps, Geophyscial Research Letters, (accepted).
Thomson, J. and A.T. Jessup, A Fourier-based method for the distribution of breaking crests from video observations, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, (accepted).
Thomson, J., S. Elgar, T.H.C. Herbers, B. Raubenheimer, and R.T. Guza, Refraction and reflection of infragravity waves near submarine canyons, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112 (2007).
Thomson, J., S. Elgar, B. Raubenheimer, T.H.C. Herbers, and R.T. Guza, Tidal modulation of infragravity waves via nonlinear energy losses in the surfzone, Geophysical Research Letters, 33 (2006).
Thomson, J., S. Elgar, and T.H.C. Herbers, Reflection and tunneling of ocean waves observed at a submarine canyon, Geophysical Research Letters, 32 (2005). Online appendix: inverse method
Pedlosky, J., and J. Thomson, Baroclinic instability of time-dependent currents, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 490 (2003).
FULL CURRICULUM VITAE (PDF)