Contact Professor Tim Hess
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758305
- Email: t.hess@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Areas of expertise
- Managing Corporate Sustainability
- Water Science and Engineering
Background
Professor Hess has a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Agricultural Engineering (Land Resource Management) and joined Cranfield University (Silsoe) as a Research Officer in 1981. In the early 1990s he represented Cranfield as Resident Scientist with the Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. During this time he completed his PhD on 'The impact of climatic variability over the period 1961-1990 on the soil water balance of upland soils in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria'.
Current activities
Tim is Professor of Water and Food Systems within the School of Water, Energy and Environment. He has over 35 years' experience in research and consultancy in the application of hydrology in managed rural environments, and particularly irrigated agriculture in the UK and overseas. This has been applied to sustainable food supply chains, working with national and international organisations and major UK retailers. He is an interdisciplinary scientist with a particular interest in the application of ecosystem services approaches to water management issues.
British Hydrological Society National Committee (2013 - 2016) & S.E. Region Committee (2003 - 2015).
Former Executive Council member of UK Irrigation Association.
Expert group member for UK Water Research and Innovation Partnership.
Committee member on ISO/TC 207/SC 5/WG 8 (Water Footprinting) and British Standards Institution mirror group.
Co-Chair of International Life Sciences Institute (Europe) Environment and Health Task Force and Chair of expert group on Water Footprinting.
Contributing author to National Ecosystem Services Assessment (NEA)
Presently Co-I on three RC funded projects; 'Fragments, functions and flows - the scaling of biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban ecosystems' (NERC); 'Mitigating climate change impacts on India agriculture through improved irrigation water management' (NERC); 'Establishment of a strategic training hub for the advancement of the UK agri-food industry' (BBSRC).
Clients
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Potato Council, DairyCo, Eblex)
Environmental regulators, including Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency
European Union - DGEnvironment
Irish Food Board (Bord Bia)
UK government departments, including Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Department for International Development (DFID)
UK Water Industry Research
Water Research Foundation
WWF
Food and drink businesses, including Unilever, Coca Cola, Innocent
Major retailers including Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Chengot R, Zylberman R, Momblanch A, Salazar OV, Hess T, .... (2024). Evaluating the impacts of agricultural development and climate change on the water-energy nexus in Santa Elena (Ecuador). Environmental Science & Policy, 152
- Lankford B, Pringle C, McCosh J, Shabalala M, Hess T, .... (2023). Irrigation area, efficiency and water storage mediate the drought resilience of irrigated agriculture in a semi-arid catchment. Science of The Total Environment, 859(Pt 2)
- Vicario DR, Holman I, Sutcliffe C & Hess T. (2023). Synergies and trade-offs in drought resilience within a multi-level UK food supply chain. Regional Environmental Change, 23(2)
- Sutcliffe C, Knox J & Hess T. (2023). ‘I think this is where this lovely word “sustainability” comes in’: Fruit and vegetable growers' narratives concerning the regulation of environmental water use for food production. Sociologia Ruralis, 63(3)
- Zurek M, Ingram J, Sanderson Bellamy A, Goold C, Lyon C, .... (2022). Food System Resilience: Concepts, Issues, and Challenges. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47(1)
- Boulay A-M, Drastig K, Amanullah , Chapagain A, Charlon V, .... (2021). Building consensus on water use assessment of livestock production systems and supply chains: Outcome and recommendations from the FAO LEAP Partnership. Ecological Indicators, 124(May)
- Hess T. (2021). How can we avoid eating ourselves out of water?. Nature Food, 2(4)
- Clarke D, Hess TM, Haro-Monteagudo D, Semenov MA & Knox JW. (2021). Assessing future drought risks and wheat yield losses in England. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 297
- Sutcliffe C, Knox J & Hess T. (2021). Managing irrigation under pressure: How supply chain demands and environmental objectives drive imbalance in agricultural resilience to water shortages. Agricultural Water Management, 243
- Echchelh A, Hess T, Sakrabani R, Prigent S & Stefanakis AI. (2021). Towards agro-environmentally sustainable irrigation with treated produced water in hyper-arid environments. Agricultural Water Management, 243
- Knox JW, Kay MG, Hess TM & Holman IP. (2020). The challenges of developing an irrigation strategy for UK agriculture and horticulture in 2020: industry and research priorities. CABI Reviews, 15(50)
- Hess T, Knox J, Holman I & Sutcliffe C. (2020). Resilience of Primary Food Production to a Changing Climate: On-Farm Responses to Water-Related Risks. Water, 12(8)
- Lankford B, Closas A, Dalton J, López Gunn E, Hess T, .... (2020). A scale-based framework to understand the promises, pitfalls and paradoxes of irrigation efficiency to meet major water challenges. Global Environmental Change, 65
- Vercruysse K, Grabowski RC, Hess T & Lexartza-Artza I. (2020). Linking temporal scales of suspended sediment transport in rivers: towards improving transferability of prediction. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 20(12)
- Zurek M, Garbutt G, Lieb T, Hess T & Ingram J. (2020). Increasing Resilience of the UK Fresh Fruit and Vegetable System to Water-Related Risks. Sustainability, 12(18)
- Echchelh A, Hess T & Sakrabani R. (2020). Agro-environmental sustainability and financial cost of reusing gasfield-produced water for agricultural irrigation. Agricultural Water Management, 227
- Miller JD, Stewart E, Hess T & Brewer T. (2020). Evaluating landscape metrics for characterising hydrological response to storm events in urbanised catchments. Urban Water Journal, 17(3)
- Echchelh A, Hess T, Sakrabani R, de Paz JM & Visconti F. (2019). Assessing the environmental sustainability of irrigation with oil and gas produced water in drylands. Agricultural Water Management, 223
- Comber A, Collins AL, Haro-Monteagudo D, Hess T, Zhang Y, .... (2019). A Generic Approach for Live Prediction of the Risk of Agricultural Field Runoff and Delivery to Watercourses: Linking Parsimonious Soil-Water-Connectivity Models With Live Weather Data Apis in Decision Tools. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3
- Batista Seguí MDM, Tyrrel S, Hess T, Sakrabani R & Knaggs D. (2019). Long‐term phosphorus accumulation and removal efficiency in a land‐based wastewater treatment system in the UK. Water and Environment Journal, 33(4)
- Knox JW, Haro‐Monteagudo D, Hess TM & Morris J. (2018). Identifying Trade‐Offs and Reconciling Competing Demands for Water: Integrating Agriculture Into a Robust Decision‐Making Framework. Earth's Future, 6(10)
- Hess T & Sutcliffe C. (2018). The exposure of a fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain to global water-related risks. Water International, 43(6)
- Knox JW, Haro-Monteagudo D, Hess T & Morris J. (2018). Forecasting Changes in Agricultural Irrigation Demand to Support a Regional Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy. Advances in Chemical Pollution, Environmental Management and Protection, 3(Agric Water Manag 93 2007)
- Echchelh A, Hess T & Sakrabani R. (2018). Reusing oil and gas produced water for irrigation of food crops in drylands. Agricultural Water Management, 206
- Badruzzaman M, Hess T, Smith H, Upson S & Jacangelo JG. (2017). Value Propositions of the Water Footprint Concept for Sustainable Water Utilities. Journal AWWA, 109(9)
- Pfister S, Boulay A-M, Berger M, Hadjikakou M, Motoshita M, .... (2017). Understanding the LCA and ISO water footprint: A response to Hoekstra (2016) “A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA”. Ecological Indicators, 72
- Seguí MDMB, Hess T, Sakrabani R & Tyrrel S. (2017). Long-term phosphorus removal in land treatment systems: Evaluation, experiences, and opportunities. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 47(5)
- Miller JD & Hess T. (2017). Urbanisation impacts on storm runoff along a rural-urban gradient. Journal of Hydrology, 552
- Kelvin J, Acreman MC, Harding RJ & Hess TM. (2017). Micro-climate influence on reference evapotranspiration estimates in wetlands. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 62(3)
- Hess T, Chatterton J, Daccache A & Williams A. (2016). The impact of changing food choices on the blue water scarcity footprint and greenhouse gas emissions of the British diet: the example of potato, pasta and rice. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112
- Morris J, Beedell J & Hess TM. (2016). Mobilising flood risk management services from rural land: principles and practice. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 9(1)
- Hess T, Daccache A, Daneshkhah A & Knox J. (2016). Scale impacts on spatial variability in reference evapotranspiration. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 61(3)
- Knox J, Daccache A, Hess T & Haro D. (2016). Meta-analysis of climate impacts and uncertainty on crop yields in Europe. Environmental Research Letters, 11(11)
- Hess TM, Sumberg J, Biggs T, Georgescu M, Haro-Monteagudo D, .... (2016). A sweet deal? Sugarcane, water and agricultural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Global Environmental Change, 39
- Hess TM, Lennard AT & Daccache A. (2015). Comparing local and global water scarcity information in determining the water scarcity footprint of potato cultivation in Great Britain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 87(1)
- Chiverton A, Hannaford J, Holman IP, Corstanje R, Prudhomme C, .... (2015). Using variograms to detect and attribute hydrological change. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 19(5)
- Chiverton A, Hannaford J, Holman I, Corstanje R, Prudhomme C, .... (2015). Which catchment characteristics control the temporal dependence structure of daily river flows?. Hydrological Processes, 29(6)
- Pérez-Ortolá M, Daccache A, Hess TM & Knox JW. (2015). Simulating impacts of irrigation heterogeneity on onion (Allium cepa L.) yield in a humid climate. Irrigation Science, 33(1)
- Watts G, Battarbee RW, Bloomfield JP, Crossman J, Daccache A, .... (2015). Climate change and water in the UK – past changes and future prospects. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 39(1)
- Daccache A, Knox JW, Weatherhead EK, Daneshkhah A & Hess TM. (2015). Implementing precision irrigation in a humid climate – Recent experiences and on-going challenges. Agricultural Water Management, 147
- Weatherhead K, Knox J, Hess T & Daccache A. (2015). Exploring Irrigation Futures. Outlook on Agriculture, 44(2)
- Hess T, Andersson U, Mena C & Williams A. (2015). The impact of healthier dietary scenarios on the global blue water scarcity footprint of food consumption in the UK. Food Policy, 50
- Hess T, Aldaya M, Fawell J, Franceschini H, Ober E, .... (2014). Understanding the impact of crop and food production on the water environment—using sugar as a model. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 94(1)
- Chipula G, Sakrabani R, Hess T & Tyrrel S. (2014). Compost-Sewage Effluent Integration for Ryegrass Production. Journal of Crop Improvement, 28(3)
- McIntyre N, Ballard C, Bruen M, Bulygina N, Buytaert W, .... (2014). Modelling the hydrological impacts of rural land use change. Hydrology Research, 45(6)
- Monaghan JM, Daccache A, Vickers LH, Hess TM, Weatherhead EK, .... (2013). More ‘crop per drop’: constraints and opportunities for precision irrigation in European agriculture. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 93(5)
- Hess TM & Knox JW. (2013). Water Savings in Irrigated Agriculture. Outlook on Agriculture, 42(2)
- Knox J, Hess T, Daccache A & Wheeler T. (2012). Climate change impacts on crop productivity in Africa and South Asia. Environmental Research Letters, 7(3)
- Archer NAL, Quinton JN & Hess TM. (2012). Patch vegetation and water redistribution above and below ground in south‐east Spain. Ecohydrology, 5(1)
- Rouquette JR, Posthumus H, Morris J, Hess TM, Dawson QL, .... (2011). Synergies and trade-offs in the management of lowland rural floodplains: an ecosystem services approach. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 56(8)
- Holman IP, Hess TM & Rose SC. (2011). A broad‐scale assessment of the effect of improved soil management on catchment baseflow index. Hydrological Processes, 25(16)
- Knox JW, Rodriguez-Diaz JA & Hess TM. (2011). Estimating Evapotranspiration by Using Atmometers for Irrigation Scheduling in a Humid Environment. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 137(11)
- Posthumus H, Rouquette JR, Morris J, Gowing DJG & Hess TM. (2010). A framework for the assessment of ecosystem goods and services; a case study on lowland floodplains in England. Ecological Economics, 69(7)
- Hess TM, Holman IP, Rose SC, Rosolova Z & Parrott A. (2010). Estimating the impact of rural land management changes on catchment runoff generation in England and Wales. Hydrological Processes, 24(10)
- Knox J, Morris J & Hess T. (2010). Identifying Future Risks to UK Agricultural Crop Production. Outlook on Agriculture, 39(4)
- Armsworth PR, Armsworth AN, Compton N, Cottle P, Davies I, .... (2010). The ecological research needs of business. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47(2)
- Hess T. (2010). Estimating Green Water Footprints in a Temperate Environment. Water, 2(3)
- Rouquette JR, Posthumus H, Gowing DJG, Tucker G, Dawson QL, .... (2009). Valuing nature‐conservation interests on agricultural floodplains. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46(2)
- Holman IP, Tascone D & Hess TM. (2009). A comparison of stochastic and deterministic downscaling methods for modelling potential groundwater recharge under climate change in East Anglia, UK: implications for groundwater resource management. Hydrogeology Journal, 17(7)
- Hess TM & Molatakgosi G. (2009). Irrigation management practices of cabbage farmers in Botswana using saline groundwater. Agricultural Water Management, 96(2)
- De Bock T, Kervyn de Meerendré B, Hess T & Gouder de Beauregard A. (2009). Ecohydrology of a seasonal wetland in the Rift Valley: ecological characterization of Lake Solai. African Journal of Ecology, 47(3)
- Morris J, Hess TM, Gowing DJG, Leeds‐Harrison PB, Bannister N, .... (2005). A framework for integrating flood defence and biodiversity in washlands in England. International Journal of River Basin Management, 3(2)
- Graves AR, Hess T, Matthews RB, Stephens W & Middleton T. (2002). Crop Simulation Models as Tools in Computer Laboratory and Classroom-Based Education. Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education, 31(1)
- Matthews R, Stephens W, Hess T, Middleton T & Graves A. (2002). Applications of crop/soil simulation models in tropical agricultural systems. Advances in Agronomy, 76
- Archer NAL, Quinton JN & Hess TM. (2002). Below-ground relationships of soil texture, roots and hydraulic conductivity in two-phase mosaic vegetation in South-east Spain. Journal of Arid Environments, 52(4)
- Archer N, Hess T & Quinton J. (2002). The water balance of two semi-arid shrubs on abandoned land in South-Eastern Spain after cold season rainfall. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 6(5)
- Quinton JN, Catt JA & Hess TM. (2001). The Selective Removal of Phosphorus from Soil. Journal of Environment Quality, 30(2)
- Stephens W & Hess TM. (1999). Modelling the benefits of soil water conservation using the PARCH model—a case study from a semi-arid region of Kenya. Journal of Arid Environments, 41(3)
- Hess TM. (1998). Trends in reference evapo-transpiration in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria, 1961–91. Journal of Arid Environments, 38(1)
- Hess T, Stephens W & Thomas G. (1996). Modelling NDVI from decadal rainfall data in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Management, 48(3)
- Hess T. (1996). A microcomputer scheduling program for supplementary irrigation. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 15(3)
- Hess TM, Stephens W & Maryah UM. (1995). Rainfall trends in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria 1961–1990. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 74(1-2)
- Grema AK & Hess TM. (1994). Water balance and water use of pearl millet-cowpea intercrops in north east Nigeria. Agricultural Water Management, 26(3)
- Hess TM & Morris J. (1988). Estimating the value of flood alleviation on agricultural grassland. Agricultural Water Management, 15(2)
- Morris J & Hess TM. (1988). AGRICULTURAL FLOOD ALLEVIATION BENEFIT ASSESSMENT: A CASE STUDY. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 39(3)
Conference Papers
- Celmi G, Momblanch A, Hess T, Fyffe CL, Potter E, .... (2021). No-regret adaptation to climate change through management of glacial lakes in the Santa River Basin in Peru
- Posthumus H, Morris J, Hess TM, Neville D, Phillips E, .... (2009). Impacts of the summer 2007 floods on agriculture in England
- Hess TM & Counsell C. (2008). A water balance simulation model for teaching and learning – WaSim
- Morris J, Hess TM, Posthumus H, Trawick P, Neville D, .... (2008). Impacts of the summer 2007 floods in rural England: rural flood proofing - Cinderella or suitable case for treatment?
- Posthumus H, Rouquette J, Morris J, Hess T, Gowing D, .... (2008). Integrated land and water management in floodplains in England
- Morris J, Hess TM, Gill A, Howsam P & White SM. (2004). The Water Framework Directive and Flood Management
- Peacock CE & Hess TM. (2004). Estimating evapotranspiration from a reed bed using the Bowen ratio energy balance method
- Morris J, Hess TM, Gowing D, Leeds-Harrison PB, Bannister N, .... (2003). Integrated washland management for flood defence and biodiversity
- Lopez-Moreno I, Hess TM & White SM. (2003). Estimation of reference evapotranspiration in the upper Aragon River Basin, with Penman-Monteith equation using easily available meteorological data
- Gadoury S & Hess TM. (2002). Improved irrigation scheduling for spring wheat grown under centre pivot irrigation in Zambia's sandy soil
- Hess TM & Knox JW. (2002). Irrigation advisory services: experiences in the UK
- Knox JW, Weatherhead EK & Hess TM. (2001). Integrating spatial data, GIS and a computer model to improve the management and planning of water resources for irrigated agriculture in England and Wales
- Stephens W & Hess T. (1999). Systems approaches to water management research
- Hess TM. (1996). A comparison between evapotranspiration calculated from an automatic weather station and conventional weather data - implications for irrigation scheduling in the UK
- Hess TM, Leeds-Harrison PB & Morris J. (1989). The evaluation of river maintenance in agricultural areas
- Hess TM. (1988). Computer Aided Irrigation Scheduling
- Hess TM & Morris J. (1988). A model for the economic evaluation of flood alleviation in agricultural areas
- Morris J, Black DE & Hess TM. (1987). Farmer uptake of drainage benefits: a regional study
- Morris J & Hess TM. (1986). Evaluating farmer response to land drainage improvement
- Morris J & Hess TM. (1985). A computer model for agricultural land drainage scheme appraisal
Books
- Knox J & Hess T. (2018). Advances in irrigation management and technology in potato cultivation: experiences from a humid climate In Achieving sustainable cultivation of potatoes Volume 2. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.
- Hess T, Knox J, Kay M & Weatherhead K. (2010). Managing the Water Footprint of Irrigated Food Production in England and Wales In Hester RE & Harrison RM (eds), Sustainable Water (1st). The Royal Society of Chemistry.
- Morris J, Hess T & Posthumus H. (2010). Agriculture's Role in Flood Adaptation and Mitigation In Études de l'OCDE sur l'eau. OECD.
- Morris J, Hess T & Posthumus H. (2010). Agriculture's Role in Flood Adaptation and Mitigation In OECD Studies on Water. OECD.
- Morris J, Posthumus H, Hess TM, Gowing DJG & Rouquette JR. (2009). Watery land: the management of lowland floodplains in England In What is Land For? The Food, Fuel and Climate Change Debate. Earthscan.
- Posthumus H, Morris J, Hess T, Trawick P, Neville D, .... (2008). Impacts of the summer 2007 floods on agriculture in England In Flood Risk Management: Research and Practice. CRC Press.
- Graves AR, Hess TM & Matthews RB. (2002). Chapter 11: Using models as tools in education and training In Matthews RB & Stephens W (eds), Crop-Soil Simulation Models: Applications in Developing Countries. CAB International.
- Matthews RB, Stephens W & Hess TM. (2002). Chapter 13: Impacts of crop-soil models In Matthews R & Stephens W (eds), Crop-soil simulation models: applications in developing countries. CABI Publishing.
- Matthews R, Stephens W & Hess T. (2002). Impacts of crop-soil models. In Crop-soil simulation models: applications in developing countries. CABI Publishing.
