Kehui (Kevin) Xu

Position: James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor; Professor, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences; Director, Coastal Studies Institute
Phone: 225-578-0389
Fax: 225-578-6513
E-mail: kxu@lsu.edu 
Office: 2165 ECE Building
Lab: Sediment Dynamics Lab, 2162 ECE Building
Research Website: Sediment Dynamics Lab 

 

 

 

Degrees

Ph.D. Degree: Ph.D. Marine Science, College of William and Mary, 2006

Master's Degree: M.S. Geological Oceanography, Ocean University of China, 2002

Bachelor's Degree: B.S. Geology & Computer Applications, Ocean University of China, 1999

 

 

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

2026, LSU Foundation Distinguished Graduate Faculty Teaching Award

2023, LSU Distinguished Faculty Award

2021, LSU College of the Coast & Environment, Outstanding Faculty Research Award

2020, LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award

2017, LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award

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

 

Professional Service

2020–present, Chair of Education and Knowledge Transfer of Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS)

2015–present, Associate Editor of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

 

Selected Recent Publications

*Students advised by Dr. Kehui Xu

Wang*, J., Xu, K.H., Zhang, X., Chen, Q. and Johnson, C., 2026. Differential shoreline dynamics surrounding a sedimentary headland marsh system in a microtidal deltaic coast. Coastal Engineering, p.105117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2026.105117

Wei, E, Walton, F, Bentley, S, Zang, Z, Xu, K.H., Woodall, J, King, DM. 2026. Limited accommodation and oceanographic transport promote decadal sediment bypass offshore of the Eastern Mississippi River Birdsfoot Delta, USA. Marine Geology. 107814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2026.107814

Alawneh, O., Jafari, N.H., Cadigan, J.A., Nasiri, H., Xu, K.H., 2026. Effect of sand content on cohesive sediment strength in the Louisiana outer continental shelf. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 338 (2026) 109940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2026.109940.

Hu, G., Xu, K.H., Zhang, Y., Sun, T., Kong, X., Zhu, W., 2026. Three sea-level-induced cyclic formations of the mud wedge along the Inner Shelf of East China Sea since late Pleistocene. Marine Geology 495(2026): 107748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2026.107748.

Johnson, D.S., Pant M., Nemeth A., Foster E., Gartelman*, A., Calhoun-Grosch S., Xu, K.H., Roberts, B.J., Nelson, J., 2025. Recovery of benthic macroinfauna six years after dredging. PLoS One 20(9): e0332089. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332089

Gartelman*, A., Xu, K.H., Roberts, B. J., Johnson, D. S., & Liotta, M., 2025. Time Series Changes of Surficial Sediments on Eastern Ship Shoal, Louisiana Shelf. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(9), 1753. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13091753.

Zhang*, W., Xu, K.;H., Jia, C., Gartelman*, A., Alawneh, O., Jafari, N., Herke, C., Liotta, M., Bentley, S.J., 2025. A Comparison of Characteristics of Infilling Sediments in Three Mud-Capped Dredge Pits on the Louisiana Continental Shelf. Water 2025, 17, 2643. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17172643

Bao, D., Xue, Z., Hiatt, M., Xu, K.H., Harris, C.K., Trepanier, J. 2025. A machine learning-based prediction-to-map framework for rapid and accurate spatial flood prediction. npj Nat. Hazards 2, 71 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00122-2

Yang, H., Wang, L., Xu, K.H., Zhang, W., Shi, B., Yang, S. and Wang, Y.P., 2025. Deltaic engineering‐induced accumulation hides erosion in response to fluvial sediment decline in the Yangtze submarine shoal. Limnology and Oceanography Letters. https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lol2.70018

Harley, G.L., DeLong, K.L., Lofverstrom, M., Reese, C.A., Bergan, E.V., Bentley Sr, S.J., Xu, K.H., Moran*, K., King, K.E. and Caporaso, A., 2025. Rapid decline and mortality of a Pleistocene-aged forest now submerged in the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 8(1), p.59.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-025-00951-y

Ni, X., Zhao, G., White, J.R., Yao, P., Xu, K.H., Sapkota, Y., Liu, J., Zheng, H., Su, D., He, L. and Liu, Q., 2025. Source and degradation of soil organic matter in different vegetations along a salinity gradient in the Yellow River Delta wetland. Catena, 248, p.108603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108603