Kam-biu Liu
Position: George W. Barineau III Professor, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
Phone: 225-578-8203
Fax: 225-578-6423
E-mail: kliu1@lsu.edu
Bachelor's Degree(s): B.Sc. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1974
Master's Degrees(s): M.S. University of Toronto, 1978
Ph.D.(s): Ph.D. University of Toronto, 1982
Research Interests
Thematic: paleotempestology, coastal paleoecology, global environmental change, palynology and lake-sediments
Regional: U.S. Gulf coast and Atlantic coast, Caribbean region and Central America, South America (Andes and Amazon Basin), Tibetan Plateau, China
Classes Taught
OCS/ENVS 4600. Global Environmental Change: Past, Present, and Future
OCS 3200. Hurricanes and Typhoons
Awards & Honors
2024 LSU Presidential Laurels
2024 Gilbert F. White Award, AGU
2023 Life-time Achievement Award, Climate Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers (AAG)
2019 LSU Distinguished Research Master Award
2018 Life-time Achievement Award, Paleoenvironmental Change Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers (AAG)
2013 LSU Rainmaker (Senior Scholar Award)
2010 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, LSU School of Coast and Environment
2008 Elected AAAS Fellow
2008 LSU Rainmaker
2005 SLLW Visiting Fellow, Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2004 LSU Distinguished Faculty Award
2001 LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award
1983 Warren Nystrom Award, Association of American Geographers (AAG)
Grants
2019-21 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($18,595), Geography and Spatial Sciences Program, BCS-1853794. “Multi-proxy approach to characterizing hurricane-induced deposits in coastal and inland environments”. (PI: Michael Martinez-Colon, FAMU; co-PIs: Tom Bianchette, U Michigan-Dearborn; Kam-biu Liu, LSU; total award for FAMU, UMD, and LSU: $72,694)
2017-20 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($299,262), Geography and Spatial Sciences Program, BCS-1759715. “Holocene biogeography of mangroves along the Gulf of Mexico coast: Past, present, and future”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu)
2017-20 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($269,590), Geomorphology and Land Use Dynamics program, EAR-1745741. “Collaborative Research: A multi-technique approach for deconvolving tropical cyclone effects on Late Quaternary geomorphic change in arid southwestern North America”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu; collaborative PIs: Jose Luis Antinao, Indiana Geological Survey; Eric V. McDonald, Nevada Desert Research Institute; total award for LSU, IU, and DRI: $746,736)
2017-19 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($49,876), Geomorphology and Landuse Dynamics Program, EAR-1803035. “RAPID: Collaborative Research: Tracking Hurricane Harvey's Storm Surge and Flood Sedimentation”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu; collaborative PI: Harry Williams, University of North Texas)
2017-19 National Science Foundation (NSF), Doctoral dissertation research improvement (DDRI) grant ($15,806), Geography and Regional Science Program, BCS-1735723. “Doctoral Dissertation Research: Reconstructing Hurricane Activity in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: A Novel Approach Using Biomarkers and Stable Isotopes”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu, co-PI: Marianne Dietz, Ph.D. student)
2014-17 NOAA/Louisiana Sea Grant ($170,645). “Response of Louisiana black mangrove to climate changes: Learning from the past to predict the future”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu).
2012-17 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($1,499,935), Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program, BCS-1212112. “CNH: Coupled Natural- Human Dynamics in a Vulnerable Coastal System”. (PI: Nina Lam; co-PIs: Kam-biu Liu, Victor Rivera-Monroy, Margaret Reams, YiJun Xu, Kelley Pace, David Dismukes).
2013-14 National Science Foundation (NSF), Doctoral dissertation research improvement (DDRI) grant ($15,688), Geography and Regional Science Program, BCS-1303114. “Multi-proxy paleoecological records from the Shark River Estuary, Everglades, Florida: Wetland evolution in the light of paleo-hurricane activity and sea-level changes” (PI: Kam-biu Liu; co-PI: Qiang Yao, Ph.D. student)
2012-15 Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), research grant ($299,902), CRN2050 amendment, “Towards a better understanding of Caribbean and ENP hurricane activities: Targeted enhancement to CRN2050”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu; co-PIs: Nina Lam, Sam Bentley).
2010-13 National Science Foundation (NSF), research grant ($124,114), Geography & Regional Science Program, BCS-0964043. “Collaborative Research: Long-term dynamics of Caribbean maritime forest ecosystems in the context of major disturbance events: The role of hurricanes and fires”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu; collaborative PI: Lisa Kennedy, Virginia Tech., total award for LSU and VT: $309,992).
2010-12 National Science Foundation (NSF), Doctoral dissertation research improvement (DDRI) grant ($11,800), Geography and Regional Science Program, BCS-1003654. “Paleohurricane proxy records from the Pacific Coast of Mexico” (PI: Kam-biu Liu; co-PI: Tom Bianchette, Ph.D. student).
2009-11 Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) ($120,000). “Paleotempestology of Eastern North Pacific (ENP) hurricanes along the Pacific coast of Mexico”, addendum to grant agreement CRN II 050. (PI: Kam-biu Liu).
2008-12 LSU Graduate School, Economic Development Assistantship (EDA), ($100,000). “Paleotempestology-based hurricane risk assessment for Louisiana”. (PI: Kam-biu Liu).
2008-2009 DOE National Institute for Climate Change Research – Effects of past and recent hurricanes on Gulf Coast ecosystems: implications for future climate changes (PI K.B. Liu, Co-PIs N. Lam and W.J. Platt).
2006-2011 Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research – Paleotempestology of the Caribbean region: a multi-proxy, multi-site study of the spatial and temporal variability of Caribbean hurricane activity (PI K.B. Liu, Co-PIs N. Lam and 11 other scientists from four different countries in the Americas).
2006-2008 National Science Foundation – Collaborative research: Bioclimatic reconstruction of the past 50,000 years from eolian sequences in westerlies-dominated Central Asia (PIs K.B. Liu and Z.D. Feng).
2006-2008 National Science Foundation (Doctoral dissertation research improvement) – Proxy records of palohurricane activities for the western and southern Caribbean (PI K.B. Liu, Co-PI T. McCloskey).
2006-2008 National Science Foundation (Doctoral dissertation research improvement) – Tracking Donna across the northern Caribbean: developing a modern analog methodology for paleotempestology (PI K.B. Liu, Co-PI J. Knowles).
2006-2007 National Science Foundation – Do hurricanes spur responses of coastal communities to changing sea level? (PI W.J. Platt, Co-PIs K.B. Liu, J. Whitbeck, and L. Battaglia).
2006-2008 National Science Foundation – Paleoclimatic change, landscape evolution, and cultural transformations in far western Tibet (PI M.S. Aldenderfer, Co-PI J. Overpeck, J. Cole, J. Pelletier, and K.B. Liu).
2005-2008 National Science Foundation – Collaborative research: an integrative study of vulnerability and cultural response to hurricane hazards among indigenous populations on the Miskito coast of Honduras and Nicaragua (PI K.B. Liu, Co-PIs C.A. Reese and D. Cochran).
Recent Publications
Yao, Q., Liu, K.B., Rodrigues, E., Bianchette, T.A., Aragón-Moreno, A.A., and Zhang, Z.Q. (2020). A Geochemical Record of Late‐Holocene Hurricane Events from the Florida Everglades. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 56, e2019WR026857. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026857
Yao, Q., Liu, K.B., Aragón-Moreno, A.A., Rodrigues, E., Xu, Y.J., and Lam, N.S.N. (2020). A 5200-year Paleoecological and Geochemical Record of Coastal Environmental Changes and Shoreline Fluctuations in Southwestern Louisiana: Implications for Coastal Sustainability. GEOMORPHOLOGY 365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107284
Cheng, Q.Z., Wang, F., Chen J., Ge, C., Chen, Y.L., Zhao, X.Q., Nian, X.M., Zhang, W.G., Liu, K.B., Xu, Y-J., and Lam, N.S.N. (2020). Combined chronological and mineral magnetic approaches to reveal age variations and stratigraphic heterogeneity in the Yangtze River subaqueous delta. GEOMORPHOLOGY 359. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107163
Williams, H. and Liu, K.B. (2019). Contrasting Hurricane Ike washover sedimentation and Hurricane Harvey flood sedimentation in a Southeastern Texas coastal marsh. MARINE GEOLOGY 417: 106011
Yao, Q., Liu, K.B., Williams, H., Joshi, S., Bianchette, T.A., Ryu, J., and Dietz, M. (2019). Hurricane Harvey storm sedimentation in the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, Texas: Fluvial versus storm surge deposition. ESTUARIES AND COASTS, Sp. Issue, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00639-6
Zhang, Z.Q., Yao, Q., Liu, K.B., Xu, Q.H., and Wang, G.P. (2019). Hydrological regime responses to Holocene East Asian summer monsoon circulation in marshes of the Sanjiang Plain, NE China. LAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT 31: 240-250.
Zhang, Z.Q., Yao, Q., Bianchette, T.A., Liu, K.B., and Wang, G.P., (2019). A multi-proxy quantitative record of Holocene hydrological regime on the Heixiazi Island (NE China): Indications for the evolution of East Asian summer monsoon. CLIMATE DYNAMICS 52: 6773-6786.
Herzschuh, U., Cao, X.Y., Laepple, T., (and 20 other co-authors including Liu, K.B.) (2019). Position and orientation of the westerly jet determined Holocene rainfall patterns in China. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 10: 2376. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09866-8
Wang, L., Bianchette, T.A., and Liu, K.B. (2019). Diatom Evidence of a Paleohurricane-Induced Coastal Flooding Event in Weeks Bay, Alabama, USA. JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH 35:499-508.
Yao, Q., Liu, K.-B., Ryu, J. (2018). Multi-proxy Characterization of Hurricanes Rita and Ike Storm Deposits in the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, Southwestern Louisiana. JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH (85), 841-845.
Ryu, J., Bianchette, T. A., Liu, K.-B., Yao, Q., Maiti, K. (2018). Palynological and Geochemical Records of Environmental Changes in a Taxodium Swamp near Lake Pontchartrain in Southern Louisiana (USA) during the Last 150 Years. JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH (85), 381-385.
McCloskey, T. A., Smith, C. G., Liu, K.-B., Nelson, P. R. (2018). The Effects of Tropical Cyclone-Generated Deposition on the Sustainability of the Pearl River Marsh, Louisiana: The Importance of the Geologic Framework. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 6. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00179/full
Lam, N. S., Xu, Y.-j., Liu, K.-B., Dismukes, D. E., Reams, M. A., Pace, R. K., Qiang, Y., Narra, S., Li, K., Bianchette, T. A., Cai, H., Zou, L., Mihunov, V. (2018). Understanding the Mississippi River Delta as a Coupled Natural-Human System: Research Methods, Challenges, and Prospects. WATER, 10(8).
Dietz, M., Liu, K.-B., Bianchette, T. A. (2018). Hurricanes as a Major Driver of Coastal Erosion in the Mississippi River Delta: A Multi-Decadal Analysis of Shoreline Retreat Rates at Bay Champagne, Louisiana (USA). WATER, 10(10).
Xu, Y., Lam, N., Liu, K.-B. (2018). Assessing Resilience and Sustainability of the Mississippi River Delta as a Coupled Natural-Human System. WATER, 10, 1317.
Nolan, C., Overpeck, J.T., Allen, J.R.M., (and 39 other co-authors including Liu, K.B.) (2018). Past and future global transformation of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. SCIENCE, 361(6405), 920-923.
Yao, Q., Liu, K.-B. (2018). Changes in modern pollen assemblages and soil geochemistry along coastal environmental gradients in the Everglades of South Florida. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 5, 178.
Bianchette, T. A., McCloskey, T. A., Liu, K.-B. (2017). A 7000-year history of coastal environmental changes from Mexico’s Pacific coast: A multi-proxy record from Laguna Mitla, Guerrero. THE HOLOCENE.
Yao, Q., Liu, K.-B. (2017). Dynamics of marsh-mangrove ecotone since the mid-Holocene: A palynological study of mangrove encroachment and sea level rise in the Shark River Estuary, Florida. PLoS ONE, 12(3), e0173670.
McCloskey, T. A., Smith, C. G., Liu, K.-B., Liu, K.-B., Marot, M., Haller, C. (2017). How could a freshwater swamp produce a XRF chemical signature characteristic of a saltmarsh? ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.
Leblanc, A. R., Kennedy, L. M., Liu, K.-B., Lane, C. S. (2017). Linking hurricane landfalls, precipitation variability, fires, and vegetation response over the past millennium from analysis of coastal lagoon sediments, southwestern Dominican Republic. Journal of Paleolimnology.
Zhang, Z. Q., Liu, K.-B., Liu, K. B., Bianchette, T. A., Wang, G. P. (2017). The mid-Holocene decline of the East Asian summer monsoon indicated by a lake-to-wetland transition in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The Holocene.
Lane, C. S., Hildebrandt, B., Kennedy, L. M., LeBlanc, A. R., Liu, K.-B., Wagner, A. J., Hawkes, A. D. (2017). Verification of tropical storm deposits with oxygen isotope analyses of coeval ostracod valves. Journal of Paleolimnology, 57, 245-255.
Zhao, L., Ma, C.M., Leipe, C., Liu, K.-b., Long, T.W., Lu, H.Y., Tang, L.Y., Zhang, Y., Wagner, M., Tarasov, P.E. (2017). Holocene vegetation dynamics in response to climate change and human activities derived from pollen and charcoal records from southeastern China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 485, 644-660.
Yang, S. X., Li, J., Mao, L. M., Liu, K.-B., Gao, M. S., Ye, S. Y., Yi, S., Zhou, L. Y., Wang, F. F. (2016). Assessing pollen distribution patterns and provenance based on palynological investigation on surface sediments from Laizhou Bay, China: an aid to palaeoecological interpretation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 457, 209-220.
Yang, S. X., Liu, K.-B., Yi, S., Ye, S. Y., Li, J., Yuan, H. M., Zhoa, G. M., Pei, S. F., He, L., Ding, X. G. (2016). Distribution and provenance of modern pollen and spores in the surface sediments of Liaodong Bay, China. Marine Geology, 376, 1-14.
Figueroa-Rangel, B. L., Valle-Martinez, A., Olvera-Vargas, M., Liu, K.-B. (2016). Environmental history of mangrove vegetation in Pacific west-central Mexico during the last 1300 years. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 4(101), 1-14.
Zhao, L., Ma, C. M., Tang, L. Y., Liu, K.-B., Mao, L. M., Zhang, Y., Lu, H. Y., Wu, S. Y., Tu, Q. Y. (2016). Investigation of peat sediments from Daiyun Mountain in southeast China: late Holocene vegetation, climate and human impact. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 25(4), 359-373.
Baldini, L. M., Baldini, J., McElwaine, J., Frappier, A. B., Asmerom, Y., Liu, K.-B., Prufer, K., Ridley, H. E., Polyak, V., Kennett, D. J., Macpherson, C. G., Aquino, V. V., Awe, J., Breitenbach, S. (2016). Persistent northward North Atlantic tropical cyclone track migration over the past five centuries. Scientific Reports, 6, 37522.
Yang, S.X., Li, J., Liu, K.-B., Li, R., Wen, Z. H., Ye, S. Y., Yi, S., Chen, X. H. (2016). Pollen-spore distribution in the surface sediments of the western Bohai Sea, China. Quaternary International, 392, 213-223.
Bianchette, T. A., McCloskey, T. A., Liu, K.-B. (2016). Re-Evaluating the Geological Evidence for Late Holocene Marine Incursion Events along the Guerrero Seismic Gap on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. PLoS ONE, 11(8), e0161568.
Conroy, J. L., Hudson, A. M., Overpeck, J. T., Liu, K.-B., Wang, L., Cole, J. E. (2016). The primacy of multidecadal to centennial variability over late-Holocene forced change of the Asian Monsoon on the southern Tibetan Plateau. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 458, 337-348.
Bianchette, T. A., Liu, K.-B., Qiang, Y., Lam, N. S. (2016). Wetland accretion rates along coastal Louisiana: Spatial and temporal variability in light of Hurricane Isaac's impacts. Water, 8(1).
McCloskey, T. A., Bianchette, T. A., Liu, K.-B. (2015). Geological and sedimentological evidence of a large tsunami occurring ~1100 year BP from a small coastal lake along the Bay of La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 3, 1544-1567.
Lam, N. S., Qiang, Y., Arenas, H., Brito, P., Liu, K.-B. (2015). Mapping and assessing coastal resilience in the Caribbean region. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 42(4), 315-322.
Yao, Q., Liu, K.-B., Platt, W. J., Rivera-Monroy, V. H. (2015). Palynological reconstruction of environmental changes in coastal wetlands of the Florida Everglades since the mid-Holocene. Quaternary Research, 83, 449-458.
Lam, N., Arenas, H., Brito, P. L., Liu, K.-B. (2014). Assessment of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to coastal hazards in the Caribbean region. Journal of Coastal Research, 70, 473-478.
Liu, K.-B., McClockey, T. A., Bianchette, T. A., Keller, G., Lam, N., Cable, J. E., Arriola, J. (2014). Hurricane Isaac storm surge deposition in a coastal wetland along Lake Pontchartrain, southern Louisiana. Journal of Coastal Research, 70, 266-271.
Liu, K.-B., McCloskey, T. A., Bianchette, T. A., Keller, G., Lam, N. S., Cable, J. E., Arriola, J. (2014). Hurricane Isaac storm surge deposition in a coastal wetland along Lake Pontchartrain, southern Louisiana. Journal of Coastal Research, 70, 266-271.
Naquin, J. D., Liu, K.-B., McClockey, T. A., Bianchette, T. A. (2014). Storm deposition induced by hurricanes in a subsiding coastal zone. Journal of Coastal Research, 70, 308-313.
Farfan, L. M., D'Sa, E. J., Liu, K.-B., Rivera-Monroy, V. H. (2014). Tropical cyclone impacts on coastal regions: The case of the Yucatan and the Baja California peninsulas, Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts, 37, 1388-1402.