Eric C. Dammann Jr.
Research Interests
I am interested in developing multi-sector models that can guide decision-making for heavily engineered barrier islands facing the challenges of sea level rise. These islands typically have dense populations and are vital to both local and regional economies, making it crucial to develop informed decision pathways for managed retreat. Such pathways must be created in close collaboration with stakeholders to minimize the risk of harm to people, property, ecosystem services, and economic activities. My goal is to create a suite of modeling tools, co-produced with local stakeholders, that provide robust decision support in a scientifically rigorous and quantitative manner. To achieve this, I draw on a range of methods, including mechanistic geomorphic modeling, agent-based modeling, machine learning, geospatial analysis, multi-objective optimization, and risk and uncertainty quantification.
Research Visuals
Personal Interests
I love learning about, understanding, and exploring the natural world. This includes hiking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, and wildlife photography. I have a standard schnauzer named Zeno (named after Zeno of Citium). He is always right alongside me to explore the world and one of my best friends. I train for Olympic-style weightlifting and love to workout and go to the gym. I also enjoy playing any strategy game but my favorite game to play is poker. I love the thrill and excitement of the element of chance but only because I can guarantee myself a long term positive expected value by playing optimally according to game theory. I also love to read books about philosophy and theology.
Favorite Quote
"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. When I have clarified and exhausted a subject, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness again; the never-satisfied man is so strange if he has completed a structure, then it is not in order to dwell in it peacefully, but in order to begin another. I imagine the world conqueror must feel thus, who, after one kingdom is scarcely conquered, stretches out his arms for others."
- Carl Friedrich Gauss