Home page for Erich Hester

Erich T. Hester, PE

PhD student in Ecology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Curriculum in Ecology CB# 3275, Miller Hall
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3275

Research Interests

I am interested in how hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology influence ecological health in fluvial and wetland systems. My goal is to advance process-based knowledge to allow better informed land use planning, ecological restoration design, and preservation of aquatic ecosystems. I am particularly interested in how complexity and heterogeneity in physical structure (bathymetry, topography, substrate composition, large woody debris, floodplain forest patterns) affect water exchange among channel, floodplain, and hyporheic environments, and how this affects ecologically relevant properties and processes like temperature, flow and retention of water, and biogeochemical cycling. While stresses due to urbanization, agriculture, forestry, and resource extraction are substantial, I am becoming increasingly convinced that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face from both a scientific and landscape management perspective. As a result, I am also interested in how climate change will alter the quantity, timing, and temperature of hydrologic flows through river and wetland systems; how such altered hydrology will influence aquatic ecosystems; and how humans can use knowledge of relevant hydrological and ecological processes to help minimize the ultimate ecological impact of climate change and ease the transition to this new ecological state.

Current Projects

My current projects are focused on how in-channel geomorphic structures such as debris dams and steps that are common in undisturbed streams and are often installed as part of stream restoration projects impact hyporheic exchange and temperature in streams. This research will help connect form to function to benefit both stream restoration engineering design practice and fundamental understanding of less disturbed reference systems. The hydraulic work is very basic and will further our understanding of all hyporheic exchange functions in streams. The temperature work focuses on one specific aspect of hyporheic exchange and will further our understanding of how human impacts such as climate change, loss of riparian shading, and channel simplification affect stream temperature and ecology, and how stream management and restoration practices can help ameliorate their effects. Methods employed include three dimensional modeling of hydraulics and temperature in surface and groundwater, and field experiments using a three dimensional temperature sensor network as well as more conventional hydraulic measurements. I am specifically looking at:

1. Impact of structure size and type on hyporheic exchange
2. Impact of hydrologic and geologic setting on hyporheic exchange
3. Impact of structure size and hydrologic and geologic setting on stream temperature
4. Impact of temperature on stream ecology

Education

Ph.D.	University of North Carolina, Ecology, expected May 2008
M.S.	Stanford University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, June 1998
	Major area of study: Environmental Fluid Mechnanics and Hydrology
A.B.	Dartmouth College, Biology, June 1992

Awards

US EPA STAR Graduate Research Fellowship	2006 - present
UNC Kenan Fellowship	2004 - present

Professional Experience

2002-2003	Hydraulic Engineer	Herrera Environmental Consultants	Seattle WA
2001-2002	Water Resources Engineer	Philip Williams and Associates	San Francisco CA
1998-2001	Project Engineer	LFR Inc	Emeryville CA
1993-1995	Staff Scientist	Ecology and Environment Inc.	San Francisco CA

For more details on my education and experience see my CV

Professional Registration

Professional Engineer, Civil Engineering, 2003, Washington State

Example Design Projects

Big Quilcene River Log Jam

Cedar River Stream Daylighting and Riparian Wetlands

Peer Reviewed Publications

Hester, E.T., and M.W. Doyle. 2008. In-stream geomorphic structures as drivers of hyporheic exchange. Water Resources Research, 44, W03417, doi:10.1029/2006WR005810.

Hester, E.T., and M.W. Doyle. 2008. The influence of in-stream geomorphic structures on stream temperature via induced hyporheic exhange. Accepted with revision, Limnology and Oceanography.

Hester, E.T., and M.W. Doyle. 2008. Sensitivity of stream and river organisms to temperature change. In preparation for submittal to Ecology.

Chervitz S.A., Hester E.T., Ball C.A., Dolinski K., Dwight S.S., Harris M.A., Juvik G., Malekian A., Roberts S., Roe T., Scafe C., Schroeder M., Sherlock G., Weng S., Zhu Y., Cherry J.M., Botstein D. 1999. Using the Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) for analysis of protein similarities and structure. Nucleic Acids Research 27 (1): 74-78.

Cherry J.M., Adler C., Ball C., Chervitz S.A., Dwight S.S., Hester E.T., Jia Y.K., Juvik G., Roe T., Schroeder M., Weng S.A., Botstein D. 1998. Saccharomyces Genome Database. Nucleic Acids Research 26 (1): 73-79.