Biography
Jim Best’s current research concerns the mechanics of sediment transport, the investigation of modern sedimentary environments, and the interpretation of ancient alluvium. Current areas of ongoing research include: interactions between turbulent flows and sediment movement, turbulence modulation in sedimentological flows, bedform dynamics, braided river dynamics and deposits, the morphodynamics of river channel confluences, the sedimentology of large rivers, the application of multibeam imaging within sedimentary environments, basin evolution, paleoenvironments, and sedimentology of the Western Irish Namurian Basin.
Education
- Ph.D., Birkbeck College, University of London
- B.S., University of Leeds
Courses Taught
- GEOG/ESE 222 - Big Rivers of the World
- GEOG/GEOL 575 - Alluvial Boundary Layer Dynamics
- GEOL 440: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
- GEOL 415/515: The Geology of County Clare, Western Ireland: sedimentology, paleoecology and evolution of a sedimentary basin
- GEOL 593: Advanced Clastic Sedimentology
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Geography and Geographic Information Science
Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering
Recent Publications
Dou, L., Best, J., Bao, Z., Hou, J., Zhang, L., & Liu, Y. (2021). The sedimentary architecture of hyperpycnites produced by transient turbulent flows in a shallow lacustrine environment. Sedimentary Geology, 411, [105804]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2020.105804
Wang, M., Wu, Z., Best, J., Yang, F., Li, X., Zhao, D., & Zhou, J. (2021). Using multibeam backscatter strength to analyze the distribution of manganese nodules: A case study of seamounts in the Western Pacific Ocean. Applied Acoustics, 173, [107729]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107729
Best, J., & Darby, S. E. (2020). The Pace of Human-Induced Change in Large Rivers: Stresses, Resilience, and Vulnerability to Extreme Events. One Earth, 2(6), 510-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.021
Best, J., Cisneros, J., de Almeida, R. P., Galeazzi, C., Ianniruberto, M., Ma, H., Unsworth, C., & van Dijk, T. (2020). Why do large, deep rivers have low-angle dune beds? Geology, 48(8), e505-e505. https://doi.org/10.1130/G47578C.1
Blois, G., Bristow, N. R., Kim, T., Best, J. L., & Christensen, K. T. (2020). Novel Environment Enables PIV Measurements of Turbulent Flow around and within Complex Topographies. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 146(5), [1733]. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001733
