Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
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: ENVS2266 Earth Surface Processes (convenor), ENVS3240 Environmental Change, and ENVS2341 Active Environments (field unit in New Zealand).
Recent and current research 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).
Education/Academic qualification
Quaternary Palaeoclimatology, PhD, The record of continental dust from Australia in Tasman Sea sediments, Australian National University
1 Apr 1989 → 3 Apr 1993
Award Date: 1 Jul 1993
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
MQ Marine Research Centre
George, S. (Primary Chief Investigator), Armand, L. (Chief Investigator), Armbrecht, L. (Chief Investigator), Bishop, M. (Chief Investigator), Brock, G. (Chief Investigator), Daczko, N. (Chief Investigator), Dadd, K. (Chief Investigator), Goodwin, I. (Chief Investigator), Grech, A. (Chief Investigator), Hesse, P. (Chief Investigator), Irvine, A. (Chief Investigator), Jacob, D. (Chief Investigator), Kennedy, M. (Chief Investigator), Kosnik, M. (Chief Investigator), Loehr, S. (Chief Investigator), Madin, E. (Chief Investigator), Madin, J. (Chief Investigator), Ostrowski, M. (Chief Investigator), Paulsen, I. (Chief Investigator), Saintilan, N. (Chief Investigator), Tetu, S. (Chief Investigator), Williamson, J. (Chief Investigator), Wood, L. (Chief Investigator) & O'Brien, P. (Chief Investigator)
1/07/15 → …
Project: Research
-
DP22: Will rivers be smaller when the climate is hotter?
Hesse, P. (Primary Chief Investigator), Fryirs, K. (Chief Investigator), Ralph, T. (Chief Investigator), Kiem, A. S. (Chief Investigator), Taschetto, A. (Chief Investigator), Tripaldi, A. (Partner Investigator) & Mehl, A. (Partner Investigator)
28/09/22 → 27/09/25
Project: Research
-
Global climate change, coastal landscape evolution and the intensification of aridity in southern Australia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition
Murray-Wallace, C. (Chief Investigator), Pillans, B. (Chief Investigator), Flament, N. (Chief Investigator), Hesse, P. (Primary Chief Investigator) & Bateman, M. (Partner Investigator)
2/04/20 → 1/04/23
Project: Research
-
Desertification and the role of climate in Southern Hemisphere deserts
Hesse, P. (Primary Chief Investigator)
1/07/19 → 1/12/19
Project: Other
-
Evaluating and reducing the risk of floodplain wetland disconnection
Ralph, T. (Primary Chief Investigator), Fryirs, K. (Chief Investigator), Hesse, P. (Chief Investigator), Larkin, Z. (Research Assistant), Berney, P. (Partner Investigator) & Kobayashi, T. (Other)
31/03/19 → 30/06/22
Project: Research
Research Outputs
-
Avulsion and low flow channel incision affect inundation in semiarid floodplain wetlands
Molloy, E., Ralph, T. J., Hesse, P. & Hosking, T., 2 Feb 2026. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
Biogeomorphic links between channel degradation, soil quality and aquatic function in semiarid floodplain wetlands
Honor, J., Ralph, T. J., Kobayashi, T. & Hesse, P., 2 Feb 2026. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
Considering geomorphology for management of the Great Cumbung Swamp, Lachlan River, NSW
Ralph, T. J., Laczko, L., Hesse, P. P., McPherson, K., Lenehan, J. & Honor, J. A., 2026, Proceedings of the 12th Australian Stream Management Conference. Wiesenfeld, C., Vietz, G., Fryirs, K., Fitzpatrick, C., Dickson, M., Lanigan, V., Lloyd, L., Athapaththu, C. & Cadornigara-Corpuz, M. A. (eds.). Melbourne: River Basin Management Society, p. 657-665 9 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Holocene river evolution in drylands: setting the story straight with Crooked Creek
Ius, S., Hesse, P., Ralph, T. J. & Westaway, K. E., 2026. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
The only way out is through: geomorphic response of through-going alluvial rivers to temperature change at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary
Laczko, L., Hesse, P., Ralph, T. J. & Westaway, K. E., 2 Feb 2026. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
-
-
River Basin Management Society Award for Best Paper
Ralph, T. (Recipient), Hosking, T. (Recipient), Iles, J. (Recipient) & Hesse, P. (Recipient), 6 Feb 2012
Prize
File