Kehui (Kevin) Xu
Position: Director, Coastal Studies Institute; James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor; Professor, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
Phone: 225-578-0389
Fax: 225-578-6513
E-mail: kxu@lsu.edu
Office: 2165 Energy, Coast and Environment Building
Bachelor's Degree: B.S. Geology & Computer Applications, Ocean University of China, 1999
Master's Degree: M.S. Geological Oceanography, Ocean University of China, 2002
Ph.D. Degree: Ph.D. Marine Science, College of William and Mary, 2006
Research Interests
Coastal restoration; sediment diversion; sediment dredging and management, geological oceanography, coastal morphodynamics, observation and numerical modeling of sediment transport, sedimentary geology, coastal processes
Selected Recent Research Projects
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, GRP Program (2023-2028). "Mississippi River Delta Transition Initiative (MissDelta)", Bentley, S., Xu, K., Xue, Z., Quirk, T., Mariotti, G., Wilson, C., Hiatt, M., and many others.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2023-2028). "A Real-time System to Track Louisiana Coastal Hazards: High Frequency Radar Ocean Observing Network", PI, Xu, K., Co-PI: Li, C., Bentley, S., Miller, P., Xue, Z., Dimarco, S., Brenner, J.
US Department of Interior-BOEM (2022-2027). "University-Led Offshore Analysis of Seafloor Instability and Sediments (OASIS Partnership) with Applications to Offshore Safety and Marine Archaeology", PI: Bentley, S., Co-PI: Xu, K., Jafari, N., Xue, Z., Glaspie, C.
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, (2019-2026), "Responses of Ecological Function of the Ship Shoal Biological Communities Subjected to Dredging", PI, Nelson, J., Co-PI, Xu, K.H., Roberts, B., Rieucau, G.
National Science Foundation (2021-2023), "RAPID: Hurricane-induced Shelf Sediment Transport and Deposition after Hurricane Ida in 2021", PI: Xu, K., Co-PIs: Jafari, N., Wilson, C.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2021-2024), "Coupled Ocean Modeling Testbed (COMT) Platform for Physics and Contaminant Exchange through the River - Estuary - Ocean Continuum", PI: Xu, K., Co-PI: Xue, Z., Harris, C., DiMarco, S., Brenner, J., Gayanilo, F.
The Water Institute of Gulf (2021-2023), "Louisiana Sediment Management Plan (LASMP): Central Coast Regional Sediment Inventory and Sediment Budget Program", PI, Bentley, S., Co-PI, Xu, K.H., Peele, R. H.
Louisiana Center of Excellence, through The Water Institute of Gulf (2021-2023), "Subsidence related to subsurface stratigraphy in diversion receiving basins", PI, Wilson, C., Co-PI: Xu, K., Tornqvist, T., Chamberlain, E., Peele, R. H.
Classes Taught
OCS 4210 – Geological Oceanography
OCS 4024 – Coastal Morphodynamics
Awards, Honors and Service
2023, LSU Distinguished Faculty Award
2021, LSU College of the Coast & Environment, Outstanding Faculty Research Award
2020–present, Chair of Education and Knowledge Transfer of Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS)
2020, LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award
2017, LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award
2015–present, Associate Editor of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
2015, LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award
2015, Phi Kappa Phi Non-Tenured Professor Award, LSU Chapter
2013, Top 25 most cited articles published on ‘Geomorphology’, 2008-2013; Xu and Milliman (2009)
2012–present, James P. Morgan Distinguished Professorship, Louisiana State University
Selected Recent Publications
View the full list on Dr. Xu's lab page.
*Students advised by Dr. Kehui Xu
Moran*, K.L., Xu, K.H., Obelcz, J., DeLong, K.L., Fontenot, K., Reese, C.A., Harley, G.L., Jones, D., Caporaso, A., 2024. Storm-Driven Tree Exposure and Geomorphic Change: Predicting the Distribution of Preserved Late Pleistocene Tree Stumps on the Outer Alabama Continental Shelf, Marine Geology 477, 107402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107402
Zhang*, W., Chen, X., Zhou, X., Chen, J., Yuan, J., Zhao, T., Xu, K.H., 2024, Deep Learning-Based Geomorphic Feature Identification in Dredge Pit Marine Environment. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12, 1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12071091.
Gartelman*, A., Xu, K.H., Maiti, K., Liu, H., Moran, K., Wilson, C., Roberts, B.J., Nelson, J., 2024. Sedimentation processes and morphological changes in a dredge pit and surrounding environment on Ship Shoal in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Marine Geology, 107218, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107218.
Zhang*, W., Xu, K.H., Herke, C., Alawneh, O., Jafari, N., Maiti, K., Clower, P.O., Glaspie, C.N., Tupitza, J.C. and Xue, Z.G., 2023. Spatial and temporal variations of seabed sediment characteristics in the inner Louisiana shelf. Marine Geology, 463, 107115. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/12/7/1091
Edmonds, D.A., Toby, S.C., Siverd, C.G., Twilley, R., Bentley, S.J., Hagen, S., Xu, K.H. 2023. Land loss due to human-altered sediment budget in the Mississippi River Delta, Nature Sustainability, 6, 644–651. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01081-0.
Moran*, K., Xu, K.H., Wilson, C., Lopez, G. 2022. Contrasting modes of sediment infilling and geomorphic change within a sand dominated dredge pit on the inner Louisiana shelf, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 108127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108127.
Xu, K.H., Wang*, J., Li, C., Bentley, S., Miner, M., 2022. Geomorphic and Hydrodynamic Impacts on Sediment Transport on the Inner Louisiana Shelf. Geomorphology, 108022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.108022.
Liu*, H., Xu, K.H., Wilson, C., Bentley, S., Xue, Z., Zhang, Z., 2022. Geomorphologic response and patchy mud infilling in a sandy dredge pit in Ship Shoal, Louisiana shelf, USA. Geomorphology, 107983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107983
Bales*, R., Xu, K.H., Li, G., Maiti, K., Liu, H., 2021. Hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and water quality of two contrasting dredge pits on the Louisiana shelf, Continental Shelf Research 230, 104569, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2021.104569.
Xu, K.H., Bentley, S.J., Day, J.W., Freeman, A.M., 2019. A review of sediment diversion in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 225, 106241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.05.023.