In touch with… Patrick Hesp

Beaches around the world form the playground for a dune geomorphology guru, whose love for the coast has taken him to South Africa, Namibia, Israel, Holland, China, Brazil, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and France. FiT caught up with Strategic Professor Patrick Hesp back home at Bedford Park, where his current research focuses on the Coorong and SA’s metropolitan coastline.

What made you decide to work in the field of dune research?

I played on beaches and sand dunes from the moment I can remember doing anything, so it was a natural choice for me to conduct research in those areas once I started my Geography degree.

What is your current research about?

On a small scale, I examine wind flow and sand transport in plants to understand how dunes form around different plant species and plant densities. At a meso-scale, I examine wind flow over dunes of various types – both in the field and via computational fluid dynamics, to better understand how dunes evolve over time under different wind velocities and vegetation covers.

At the larger scale, I examine the dynamics and evolution of dune fields in Australia and around the world, to understand the impact of climate change on their future evolutionary paths. I also conduct research on the interactions between surf zones, beaches and dunes, to explain why we see different types of beaches and dunes around the world.

How do you think your work benefits the wider community?

My research has helped coastal planners, soil conservators, councils and governments better plan and manage coastal environments, and conserve, rebuild and restore coastal dunes. I’ve also written a booklet on coastal environments for high school students to help them understand the issues.

What has been your proudest moment as a researcher?

Getting my first international peer-reviewed journal paper published in 1981 was very special.

What has been your most challenging moment as a researcher?

Surviving in desert dune fields in outer Mongolia during horrific sand and dust storms. I suffered aluminium poisoning (and lost 6kg in three weeks), and had to sleep in a salt mine prison after breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

What does a normal day look like for you?

Preparing and delivering a lecture, writing, editing papers, reviewing student work, some administration, responding to too many emails, and keeping contact with multiple colleagues across the globe.

If there is one piece of advice you could impart on future researchers and university students, what would it be?

I failed my last year at high school and had to repeat. I failed second year university undergraduate geography and repeated it while also doing third year. I was strongly advised to give up my PhD by a supervisor who never supervised. I spent four nights a week washing dishes in a Spanish restaurant from 6pm to 2am while married with two children, to get through.

My advice is if you love it, keep at it. If you have children who appear to be failing, give them every support and more chances than you think they deserve.

Staff who would like to feature in an In touch profile – or recommend someone else – are invited to please email the FiT team.

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