Strategic Professorship
College of Science and Engineering
Professor Patrick Hesp was born in Hawera, in the Taranaki region, New Zealand. He completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Massey University in New Zealand, and his Ph.D. in coastal geomorphology at the University of Sydney in 1982. He was awarded a DSc from Massey University in 2013. He has held academic positions in NSW, Western Australia, Singapore, USA, and NZ, non-academic positions in the WA State Dept. of Agriculture, Geomarine P/L, and the Rottnest Island Authority, held visiting professorships and fellowships in South Africa, Namibia, Israel, Holland, China, Brazil, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, and France, and has worked on beaches and coastal and desert dunes all over the world. He is an expert on coastal dune geomorphology, and has published over 360 articles in his career to date. In 2023 he was awarded the Distinguished Career Award from the International Society for Aeolian Research (ICAR).
B.A., Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Degree conferred 1974.
M.A. (Hons), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Degree conferred 1976.
Ph.D, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Degree conferred 1982.
DSc, Massey University, Palmerston North, NZ. Degree conferred 2013.
1978: Received an unprecedented grant from the Soil Conservation Service of N.S.W. to fund Ph.D research.
1985: Visiting Fellow to the Dept. Zoology, Univ. Pt. Elizabeth, R.S.Africa.
1989: Visiting Fellowship to the Namib Desert Ecological Research Station, Namibia.
1995: Visiting Professor,Department of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, Holland.
2001: Awarded Richard J. Russell award by the American Association of Geographers "in recognition of contributions to coastal geography".
2001: Distinguished Visitor Fellowship, Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
2001-12: Visiting Fellow, CECO, Lab. de Estudos Costeiros, Federal Univ. Rio Grande do Sul, PortoAlegre, Brazil.
2007: Awarded the title of Richard J. Russell Professor of Geography and Anthropology by LSU.
2007: Awarded the LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award
2008 and 2009: Awarded the title of "Rainmaker" LSU's top 100 research faculty.
2010 and 2012: Awarded Visiting Professorship's to Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, Dunkerque, France.
2011: Awarded the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award for "a sustained record of excellence in teaching, research and service".
2011: Fulbright Research Fellow.
2011: Awarded the '2011 Secretary's Partners in Conservation Award' by the USA Department of the Interior.
2017 & 2020: Appointed a China Academy of Science (CAS) Presidents International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) Visiting Scholar.
2017: Awarded Distinguished New Zealand Geographer Award and Medal.
2018: Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award and medal conferred by Massey University, NZ.
2023: Distinguished Career Award from the International Society for Aeolian Research (ISAR).
2024: Awarded a "Homenagem" (Homage) by the Association for Brazilian Studies of the Quaternary (ABEQUA) for contributions to the study of Quaternary Coastal Systems in Brazil.
2024: Awarded a PRINT Visiting fellowship to the Federal University Rio Grande do Sul (FURG) from CAPES, Brazil.
RECENT GRANTS:
Aust$380,000 in 2022 for Evolution, Morphodynamics and History of the Younghusband Peninsula. Hesp, P., Miot Da Silva Hesp, G., Wilson, C., Moffat, I. et al.
Aust$300,000 in 2019 from The National Science Centre in Poland for Airflow and aeolian sand transport dynamics beneath and above vegetation canopies - implication for foredunes initiation and growth, UMO-2018/31/B/ST10/03051
Head of Environmental Science, College of Science and Engineering, and representative to the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD).
Hesp, P.A., DaSilva, M., Miot da Silva, G., Bruce, D., Keane, R., 2022. Review and direct evidence of transgressive aeolian sand sheet and dunefield initiation. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 47 (11): 2660-2675. TOP 10 MOST CITED PAPER 2022-2023 (ESPL)
Robin, N., Billy, J., Nicolae Lerma, A., Castelle, B., Hesp, P.A., Rosebery, D., Marieu, V., Bouchet, C., Miot da Silva, G., 2023. Natural remobilization and historical evolution of a coastal transgressive dunefield. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 48, 1064-1083. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5535
Benjumea Lopez, A.C. and Hesp, P.A., 2023. Evolution of a coastal transgressive dunefield to a parabolic dunefield, Canunda Dunes, South Australia. Geomorphology 430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108653
Rotnicka, J., Dłużewski, J.M., Hesp, P.A., Tomczak, J.O., 2023. Skimming flow and sand transport within and above Ammophila (Marram) grass on a foredune. JGR Earth Surface. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JF007143
Dłużewski, M., Rotnicka, J., Hesp, P.A., Tomczak, J.O., 2023. Airflow dynamics and aeolian sand transport across a beach-climbing dune-clifftop dune system. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 128 (11), e2023JF007316.
Doyle, T., Hesp, P.A., Woodroffe, C., 2024. Foredune geomorphology: regional patterns and surfzone-beach-dune interactions along the NSW coast, Australia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5879
Hesp, P. A., 2024. Coastal Dunes: Types, Initiation, Morphology, Evolution, and Relationships to Surfzone-Beach Systems and Climate. Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, 2nd Edition, vol. 2, pp. 866-903. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90798-9.00074-3.
DaSilva, M., Hesp, P.A., Miot da Silva, G., Bruce, D., 2024. Rapid Shoreline Erosion and the Evolution of a Transgressive Coastal Dunefield. Geomorphology 109165.
Courrech du Pont, S., et al., 2024. Complementary classifications of aeolian dunes based on morphology, dynamics, and fluid mechanics. Earth Science Reviews 255. EARTH 104772.
Perry, B. et al., 2024. Impacts of large scale climate modes on the current and future bimodal wave climate of a semi-protected shallow gulf. Frontiers in Marine Science - Physical Oceanography 1364736. Volume 11.
Toffani, M., Hesp, P.A., Isla, F., Casadio, S.A., 2024. Evolutionary stages of active transgressive dunefields to vegetated dunefields in the San Matias Gulf region, Argentina. Geomorphology 461. GEOMOR-13231R1.
Lamy, A., Smyth, T.A.G., Robin, N., Hesp, P.A., 2024. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate airflow and sand transport on a human-made coastal foredune dominated by offshore wind. Coastal Engineering 191.
Costas, S., Bon de Sousa, L., Gallego-Fernández, J.B., Hesp, P.A., Kombiadou, K., 2024. Foredune initiation and early development through biophysical interactions. Science of the Total Environment. STOTEN-D-24-10983
Hesp, P.A., 2024. The formation of deflation ridges. Marine Geology. MARGO-D-24-00087R1