Pete van Hengstum

Pete van Hengstum is a Professor at Texas A&M University at Galveston, specializing in reconstructing historical climate patterns through sediment analysis. His research focuses on hurricane activity, coastal flooding, and environmental changes over the past 20,000 years using paleoclimatology techniques.

Research Interests: Van Hengstum leads a National Geographic-funded team studying blue hole ecosystems in the North Atlantic to document hurricane patterns and rainfall variability. His work integrates technical cave diving with sediment coring to address unique engineering challenges in climate science.

Publications focus on hurricane variability, coastal sedimentation, and anthropogenic impacts, with recent work on Holocene hydroclimate and North Atlantic storm patterns. Awards include NSF grants and recognition as a National Geographic Explorer.

Grants & Advising: Manages multiple NSF projects focused on hurricane risk prediction and Caribbean droughts. Current students include doctoral candidates in Oceanography and Marine Biology, with alumni in postdoctoral positions internationally.