Ben Beasley, M.S.

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Areas of Expertise

  • Analysis of regional geomorphic change

  • Coastal and nearshore processes

  • Coastal GIS analyses

Education

2018 M.S., Earth and Environmental Science, University of New Orleans
2018 Graduate Certificates in Coastal Science and Coastal Engineering, University of New Orleans
2016 B.S., Earth and Environmental Science, University of New Orleans

Project Experience

Operational Sediment Budget for the Outer Coast of Louisiana: Raccoon Point to Sandy Point

  • The significance of sediment to the sustainability of coastal Louisiana and developing a sediment budget to promote effective utilization of sediment resources is a critical element for implementation and ultimate success of the Master Plan. The primary goal of this project is to use the available BICM database of historical shoreline positions, topography, and bathymetric surveys for the outer coast of Louisiana to quantify net changes in sediment volume within the littoral zone for the period 1934/35 to 2006/15, and determine net patterns and rates of sediment transport. Mr. Beasley is compiling shoreline and bathymetric survey data sets and completing detailed QA/QC procedures toward development of topo/bathymetric surfaces for quantifying spatial and temporal change trends and sediment transport pathways to better evaluate and manage barrier island restoration projects.

Development of Progress Reports to Evaluate the Performance of Coastal Restoration Projects

  • Improved and automated workflow for the processing of LiDAR, RTK, and bathymetric survey data through the creation of ArcGIS models that integrate Arc-tools with Python scripts to create TIN models, clip raster data, cut/fill analysis, and calculate statistics to evaluate elevation changes over project life.

NASA, DEVELOP National Program

  • Mr. Beasley was team lead/member on feasibility projects that utilize NASA’s Earth observing suite of satellites, through remote sensing and GIS applications, to address environmental issues. Projects included:

  • Mapping of Louisiana tree habitats to aid in planting efforts across the coast

  • Fuel load mapping/analysis for risk assessment of Texas wildfires

  • Land-cover classifications, phenology, NDVI, time series analysis

  • Data collection, literature review, report writing, oral and poster presentations

  • Presented project results at national conferences and NASA headquarters.

Selected Publications

Beasley, B.S., I.Y. Georgiou, M.D. Miner, and M.R. Byrnes, 2019. Coupled barrier system shoreline and shoreface dynamics, Louisiana, USA. In: P.Wang, J.D. Rosati, and M. Vallee (eds.), Coastal Sediments 2019, World Scientific, Hackensack, NJ, 173-186.