Ocean waves transfer a significant amount of energy around the globe to processes vital in our livelihood. Ocean surface gains energy from winds to generate random wave fields. These waves travel thousands of kilometers before they break at shallow waters and deliver the energy required to carry around coastal sediments and continuously modify shorelines. On the other hand, in ocean interior, tidal motion over submerged topographic features such as deep ocean ridges and seamounts generates waves that break and mix up ocean interior. It is now well-known that breaking internal waves are major contributors to deep ocean turbulent mixing, and hence are crucial for global circulation of heat and distribution of nutrients. My research group studies the nonlinear processes in evolution of oceanic surface waves and their interactions with coastal sediments and vegetation. We also investigate the generation of internal waves, their role in deep ocean mixing, as well as the couplings between surface and internal waves.