Originally from Canada, Associate Professor Rob Brander is a coastal geomorphologist and surf safety educator based at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is an internationally recognised scientific expert on the rip current hazard having published over 30 scientific journal articles and 5 book chapters on rip currents and beach safety. His research utilises a mix of physical geomorphological approaches involving measurements of rip current flow and social science applications involving surveys and interviews. In 2001, Rob developed his award winning community surf safety education program ‘Science of the Surf (SOS)’ that he has now presented to over 50,000 school children and members of local communities. His YouTube video ‘How to survive beach rip currents’ has over 1.3 million views and his ‘Rip Current Survival Guide DVD’ is freely available and has been translated into 6 languages. Rob is the author of the best selling book ‘Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book; everything you wanted to know about surf, sand and rips’. He was the Keynote speaker at the 1st International Rip Current Symposium in Miami, Florida in 2010 and in 2013 was awarded an Australian Government Eureka Science Prize for promoting understanding of scientific research.
Follow Rob on: