Paul Hesse

I research and teach in the fields of geomorphology and Quaternary science.  I investigate how past climate changes have shaped earth surface processes, now and in the past. Much of my research has examined arid and semi-arid (dryland) regions of Australia. I am interested in how climate change has influenced desert sand dunes, dust storms, rivers, wetlands and vegetation cover and how those feed back into climate change.

I am Convenor of the Bachelor of Environment course and teach several units within the Environmental Earth Science major: ENVS266 Earth Surface Processes (convenor), ENVS340 Environmental Change, and ENVS341 Advanced Environmental Earth Science (field unit in New Zealand).

Recent and current reseasrch projects include: history of rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin over the last 100 000 years and how their discharge has decreased dramatically as global temperatures increased; how drought affects vegetation cover and wind erosion on sand dunes in the Simpson Desert; the global distribution of desert sand dunes, their activity and climatic sensitivity; the links between rivers, wetlands and dunefields in central Argentina (Mendoza province).