Department/College/UnitPhysical & Biological Sciences Division

TitleAssociate Professor (provision)

AffiliationFaculty

Other UCSC Campus AffiliationCenter for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR)

Web SiteGoogle

Primary Office LocationLong Marine Lab Ocean Health Building
209

Additional Location(s)US Geological Survey - Coastal and Pacific Center
Earth & Marine Sciences Building

Office HoursMondays - 1-3pm; Wednesdays 1-3pm

Mail StopLong Marine Lab

Biography, Education and Training

Borja works at the intersection of climate risks, nature-based engineering, and coastal sustainability to advance climate risk solutions in coastal areas, with a special interest on nature-based solutions. His research and teaching interests span areas of climate change, engineering and adaptation.

At UCSC and the Coastal Science and Policy Program, he studies how climate change affects coastal hazards, works to reduce risk from sea level rise and extreme weather events, and advances the use of natural infrastructure and nature-based engineering for climate resilience, in close partnership with partners in the public and private sector in the U.S and internationally. His research work has informed new policy to protect coastlines and coastal infrastructure such as the USCRTF Resolution 47.2 that declared US coral reefs as National Natural Infrastructure in 2022; and developed innovative resilience insurance concepts that align climate risk and environmental goals such as reef insurance in Mexico and Hawaii with The Nature Conservancy and the risk industry.

For this research, he combines numerical modeling with statistical and data science techniques. Dr. Reguero holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Environmental Hydraulics, a M.S. in Coastal and Port Engineering, and a M.S. in Applied Economics. 

Selected Publications

• Reguero, B.G., Storlazzi, C.D., Gibbs, A.E., Shope, J., Cole, A., Cumming, K.A., Beck, M.W. (2021). The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction. Nature Sustainability 4, 688–698. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00706-6 
• Reguero, B.G., Losada, I.J. & Méndez, F.J. (2019) A recent increase in global wave power as a consequence of oceanic warming. Nature Communications 10, 205 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-08066-0 
• Viehman, T. S., Reguero, B.G., Hunter, S.L., et al. 2023. “ Coral Restoration for Coastal Resilience: Integrating Ecology, Hydrodynamics, and Engineering at Multiple Scales.” Ecosphere 14(5): e4517. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4517
• Reguero, B.G., Griggs, G. (2022) Adaptation to Coastal Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise. Water 
• Reguero, B.G., Beck, M.W., Schmid, D., Stadtmueller, D., Raepple, J., Schüssele, S., Pfliegner, K. (2019). Financing Coastal Resilience by Combining the Natural Defenses of Coral Reefs and Insurance. Ecological Economics
• Reguero, B.G., Beck, M.W., Bresch, D.N., Calil, J., Meliane, I. (2018). Comparing the cost effectiveness of Nature-Based and Coastal adaptation: a case study from the Gulf Coast of the United States. PLOS ONE 13(4): e0192132