Andrey Kurkin

The 2007 Plinius Medal is awarded to Andrey Kurkin in recognition of his contributions to studies of natural marine hazards, especially tsunamis, freak waves and anomalous edge waves.

Dr. Andrey Kurkin received the Diploma with distinction (M.S.) in Physics and Mathematics at the Gorky State University in 1994 and the PhD at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in Moscow in 1999. In 2006 he ontained the title of Doctor of Science (the Highest Scientific Degree in Russia) in Physics and Mathematics (Oceanology) at the same P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. He is presently Associate Professor at the Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University. His main scientific interests are focused on marine waves and marine natural hazards.

In particular, he investigated the generation and propagation of tsunami and made assessment of tsunami risk for the Black, the Caspian, the Japan and the Caribbean Seas. He was among the first to estimate the wave characteristics of the catastrophic tsunami in the Indian Ocean of 26 December 2004 and developed a numerical code based on nonlinear shallow-water theory that is now used on UNESCO’s request for education purposes in the Indian Ocean countries. He studied coastal freak waves and revealed the influence of the anomalous edge waves on the wave regime and their role in sediment transport in the coastal zone.

He is the author or co-author of over 170 publications and of two books, one as a single author (“Nonlinear and nonstationary dynamics of long waves in a coastal zone”, Nizhny Novgorod, NNSTU, 2005) and one co-authored with Prof. Efim Pelinovsky (“Freak waves: facts, theory and modelling”, Nizhny Novgorod, NNSTU, 2004). He was awarded the Prize of the Scientific Council of the Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University in 2002 for his Best Scientific Research on “Nonlinear waves in near-shore zone of ocean”, the Gold Medal of the Laureate of Competition “100 best institutes of higher education of Russia” in 2005 for the Best Scientific Research on “Modeling of tsunami waves and their long-term forecasting”, and the Diploma of Department of Education and Science of the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2006 for his important contribution to the development of the scientific-educational complex of the Nizhny Novgorod region.