Professor Paul Kemp BSc PhD
Professor of Ecological Engineering
Paul Kemp is a Professor of Ecological Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton.
The exploitation of resources, such as water to produce energy, can negatively impact the sustainable management of others, such as fisheries that provide food. Our challenge is to enhance understanding of the complex relationships that exist between sectors so that we can better manage resources in more environmentally sensitive ways
Paul Kemp is the founding director of the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research (www.icer.soton.ac.uk) and director of the EPSRC funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (www.cdt-sis.soton.ac.uk). He is the Principle Investigator for the EPSRC funded “Vaccinating the NEXUS” project (www.nexus.soton.ac.uk), and chair of the University Strategic Research Group (USRG) in “NEXUS Science”. He is currently co-editor in chief of the new IAHR Journal of Ecohydraulics (www.tandfonline.com/tjoe) and member of the studentship committee of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles (www.fsbi.org.uk).
His research interests relate to the development of more environmentally sustainable water, energy and food systems. He is particularly interested in the application of behavioural ecology to understanding and solving challenges in water and energy engineering. The ethos of his research is the return to fundamental science to solve applied problems in sustainable infrastructure development. Particular interests relate to how the physical environment (e.g. hydrodynamics and acoustics) influence the behaviour and physiological performance of fish, and how manipulation of that environment by engineering means can be used to mitigate for negative impacts of water and energy resource development. Specific applications include fish pass and screening design, assigning compensation flow regimes, and improving habitat restoration strategies. Paul has extensive experience advising governmental and non-governmental organisations on ecological engineering, particularly fish passage and screening, including the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, the Scottish Executive, EU, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, US regulatory agencies, and the Brazilian Hydropower Industry.