Dr. Yonggang Liu is a physical oceanographer expertized in coastal ocean circulation patterns, dynamics, and interactions, previously in the Asian Marginal Seas & the Northeast Pacific coasts, and presently in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (West Florida Shelf). He diagnoses ocean processes by integrating various types of oceanographic data obtained from coastal ocean observing systems, satellites, and numerical models, and develops and applies novel data analysis methods in meteorology and oceanography. He is also interested in applying oceanography to environmental issues of societal importance, such as modelling the trajectories of the Deep water Horizon oil spill and the red tide.