Chunyan Li headshotChunyan Li

Position: Professor and Mobil Distinguished Professor of Marine Geology, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences

Phone: 225-578-3619

E-mail: cli@lsu.edu 

Office: 208C Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex West

Bachelor's Degree(s): B.S. University of Science and Technology of China, 1982

Master's Degrees(s): M.S. Institute of Oceanography, Academy of Science, China, 1985

Ph.D.(s): Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 1996

Research Website 

Research Interests

Physical oceanography, transport, coastal and estuarine circulations, innovative observations, modeling, extreme weather (such as hurricanes), induced water level changes including storm surges

Classes Taught

OCS 4170: Physical Oceanography
OCS 7120: Dynamical Oceanography
OCS 7123: Oceanographic Data Analysis
OCS 7125: Estuarine Dynamics
OCS 4021: Forecasting Coastal Weather
MATH 1554: Calculus II for Life Science

Professional Affiliations and Service Activities

Membership

American Geophysical Union

American Meteorological Society

Coastal Estuarine Research Federation

American Shore and Beach Preservation Association

Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System Regional Association

Member: Asia Oceania Geosciences Society

Selected Publications

ResearchGate Profile

2025 Huang, W., C. Li, A. Valle-Levinson, D. Gann, M. C. Sukop, J. T. Obeysekera, T. Troxler. Wind-Driven Exchange Flow and Inter-Basin Connectivity in a Multi-inlet Bay during Hurricane and non-Hurricane Periods. Ocean Modelling. 199: 102624 Ocean Modelling, 15(1), 8994.

2025 Li, C. and J.R. White. On the calculation of carbon and nutrient transport to the oceans, Scientific Report. 15(1), 8994. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94058-2.

2025 Li, C., R. Rohli, W. Huang, J. Alejandro Kurczyn, Enhanced water transport when a tropical storm meets an atmospheric cold front, Scientific Reports. 15(1), 6860.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-91097-7.

2025 Li, C. Determining meteorological tidal transport through a channel on the coast. Continental Shelf Research, Vol. 285: 105394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2024.105394

2024 Miller, P. W., C. Li, K. Xu, S. Caparotta and R.V. Rohli, The evolution of the 2021 Seacor Power Tragedy in Coastal Louisiana, Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 39, https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-23-0179.1.

2024 Li, C. A. Sheremet, W. Huang, P. Dash, A. Katkar, M. N. Allahdadi, N. Chaichitehrani, C. M. Bachmann, V. H. Rivera-Monroy, Dynamic impact of transiting weather systems on coastal currents in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Volume 216, 2024, 105395, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2024.105395.

2024 Feizabadi, S., C. Li, M. Hiatt, Response of River Delta Hydrological Connectivity to Changes in River Discharge and Atmospheric Frontal Passage, Frontiers in Marine Science. Volume 11:1387180. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1387180.

2024 Huang, W., Li, C., & Rivera-Monroy, V. H. (2024). Cold fronts control multiscale spatiotemporal hydroperiod patterns in a man-made subtropical coastal delta (Wax Lake Region, Louisiana USA). Ocean Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-024-01608-9.

2023 Feizabadi, S., C. Li, M. Hiatt. A Numerical Experiment of Cold Front Induced Circulation in Wax Lake Delta: Evaluation of Forcing Factors, Frontiers in Marine Science, DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1228446.

2023 Cao, Y., C. Dong, A. Stegner, B. J. Bethel, C. Li, J. Dong, H. Lü, and J. Yang, Global Sea Surface Cyclogeostrophic Currents Derived from Satellite Altimetry, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 128, e2022JC019357. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019357.  

2022 Li, C., Global Shockwaves of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcano Eruption Measured at Ground Stations. iScience 25, 105356, November 18, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105356.

2022 Li, C., Time Series Data Analysis in Oceanography: Applications using MATLAB. Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/9781108697101. ISBN: 9781108474276. pp 465.

2020 Li, C, W. Huang, R. Wu, A. Sheremet. Weather Induced Quasi-periodic Motions in Estuaries and Bays: Meteorological Tide, China Ocean Engineering, Vol. 34, No. 3, 299-313, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-020-0028-2.

2020 Huang, W., C. Li, J. R. White, S. Bargu, and S. Bentley, Numerical Experiments on variation of freshwater plume and leakage effect from Mississippi River diversion in the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 125, e2019JC015282. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015282.

2019 Huang, W., and C. Li, Spatial Variation of Cold Front Wind-driven Circulation and Quasi-steady State Balance in Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Estuarine, Coast, and Shelf Sciences, Vol. 224, 154-170.

2019 Li, C., K. Boswell, N. Chaichitehrani, W. Huang, R. Wu. Weather Induced Subtidal Flows through multiple inlets of an Arctic micro-tidal Lagoon, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, Vol. 38(3), 1-16, DOI: 10.1007/s13131-019-1361-2.

2019 Li, C., W. Huang, B. Milan, Atmospheric Cold Front Induced Exchange Flows through a Microtidal Multi-inlet Bay: Analysis using Multiple Horizontal ADCPs and FVCOM Simulations, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 36: 443-472. DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-18-0143.1.

2018 Li, C., W. Huang, C. Chen, H. Lin, Flow Regimes and Adjustment to Wind-driven Motions in Lake Pontchartrain Estuary: A Modeling Experiment Using FVCOM, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 123, 8460–8488, doi: 10.1029/2018JC013985.

2018 Wu, R., and C. Li, Upper ocean response to the passage of two sequential typhoons, Deep Sea Research Part I, Vol. 132, 68-79, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2017.12.006.

2018 Li, C., E. Weeks, B. Milan, W. Huang, R. Wu, Weather Induced Transport through a Tidal Channel Calibrated by an Unmanned Boat, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 35 (2): 261-279, 10.1175/JTECH-D-17-0130.1.

2017 Huang, W., and C. Li, Cold front driven flows through multiple inlets of Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, JGR-Oceans, 122, 8627–8645, DOI: 10.1002/2017JC012977.