Paul Hudson is Associate Professor of Physical Geography and Sustainability. He is a Dutch-American academic, and has been in the Netherlands since 2010 where he has considerable experience managing and leading educational programs across the university landscape. His teaching and research in environmental Earth sciences includes a field based approach augmented with GISc mapping and analysis of satellite imagery and historic cartography. In broad terms Hudson’s research investigates human impacts on the environment, and specifically he examines flooding, soil erosion, river adjustment, sediment transport, as well as the management of floodplain environments with rewilding and nature based approaches.

More information about Paul Hudson

Extension number: 8730

Biography:

Paul Hudson is Associate Professor of Physical Geography and Sustainability at Leiden University in the Netherlands. After fifteen years in the Netherlands Paul is a Dutch-American academic, and joined Leiden University after fourteen years in the Department of Geography & Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, and after two years at Amsterdam University College (UvA).

Within academia Hudson has considerable managerial experience across the university landscape. Five key appointments and accomplishments includes i. serving as graduate coordinator for masters and PhD programs at University of Texas at Austin – Geography, ii. Director of Studies (BSc) and Senior Tutor at Leiden University College, iii. development of a new BSc in Earth, Energy, and Sustainability at Leiden University, iv. serving as Chair (voorzitter) of the Basis Kwalificatie Onderwijs (BKO) Committee in the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs at Leiden University, and v. recipient of a Senior Onderwijskwalificatie (SKO) Teaching Certification, Leiden University.

Hudson’s scholarly interests concerns the environmental management of rivers and water resources within coastal lowlands and deltas, through the lens of physical geography and hydrology, and the role of governance in designing effective management strategies, including through the development of rewilding and nature based solutions. His teaching and research enjoys a symbiotic relationship due to employment of a “research-led teaching” approach, including the mentoring of students in their Capstone field projects.

Hudson has developed and taught over twenty different courses within environmental earth sciences and GIS at the bachelor and graduate levels. His five signature courses includes i. Field Methods for Land and Water Resources, ii. Climate Change and Water Resources for Sustainable Food Production, iii. Earth Systems Science, iv. Fluvial Geomorphology, and v. Watershed Systems and Environmental Management.

His field-based research is augmented with GISc mapping and analysis of satellite imagery and historic cartography. Hudson’s research is both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, and he has collaborated with archaeologists, biologists, geographers, historians, geologists and engineers. Hudson has/had led research projects in the Netherlands (Rhine delta, Limburg), eastern Mexico (Veracruz), Texas coastal plain, and along the Lower Mississippi River in Louisiana and Mississippi. Funding has come from government agencies, consultancy, U.S. National Science Foundation, and U.S. Fulbright.

Hudson serves on the Programme Committee of the Netherlands Center for River Studies (NCR), and is an Editorial Board member of Geomorphology. He has provided expert advice concerning environmental water resources across a range of governmental scales; community, state, and national, including Dutch parliament (Tweede Kamer).

CV

Academic Expertise:

• Human impacts on the environment
• Hydrology and flooding
• GIS
• Mississippi River
• Lowland rivers
• Geomorphology
• Historic landscapes
• Floodplain management

Courses:

• Water Resources and River Management
• Earth Systems Science
• Advanced GIS
• Water, Policy and the Environment

Publications