Jon Rees
Principal Physical Oceanographer
Jon Rees is a Principal Physical Oceanographer, a Chartered Marine scientist and a Fellow of IMarEST. He has over 30 years of experience researching the impact of constructions/activities on the marine environment and vice-versa. He uses a variety of tools (e.g. numerical models) and marine observations (i.e. WaveNet or Satellite/drone imagery) to provide expert, focussed and pragmatic advice to UK and overseas governments, commercial clients and Police constabularies. He has developed Cefas’s Forensic Oceanography services using tools developed for assessing the impacts of oil and HNS spills around the UK and worldwide.
Jon undertakes applied research and gives advice to the MMO on the potential physical impacts of offshore Renewables on the environment. This involves the whole development cycle from Scoping through construction to decommissioning. A key area is the potential impacts of the installation and operation of intra and export cables on sediment transport patterns and pathways. The integrity of these cables is key to achieving reliable power from these windfarms that maybe a 100km offshore. Additionally, the cumulative impact of offshore windfarms is a key are of interest. More recently, Jon has been exploring the impacts of offshore floating devices and their positioning cables on scour using an initiative modelling approach.
Jon sits on a number of International, National and regional committees including NOOS, MSCC Ocean Processes Expert Group, UKIMON, IMarEST OOSIG and EEEGRs’ MAST.
Historically, Jon developed the Cefas WaveNet system providing a strategic National monitoring Network for coastal flood defences. This has been successfully expanded to include the Oil & Gas and Nuclear sectors. He continues to develop new opportunities for WaveNet.
