2026 James Leonard Best: Earth Science Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Earth Science	83	435	373	232	191	492	22271

Research.com Recognitions

2015 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Overview

James Leonard Best is affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on Earth and Planetary Sciences with 75 publications, and Environmental Science with 66 publications. Their subfields include Earth-Surface Processes, Ecology, Atmospheric Science, Soil Science, and Global and Planetary Change.

The scientist has contributed extensively to topics related to Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes, Geological formations and processes, Soil erosion and sediment transport, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Aeolian processes and effects, Flood Risk Assessment and Management, and Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies.

Frequent coauthors include:

Daniel R. Parsons
Kenneth T. Christensen
Andrew Nicholas
Gianluca Blois
Nathaniel Bristow

James Leonard Best's frequent publication venues reflect a focus on sediment and fluid dynamics, featuring:

Sedimentology
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface
Geology
Water Resources Research

Selected recent papers include:

"River bank instability from unsustainable sand mining in the lower Mekong River" (2020, Nature Sustainability)
"Sand, gravel, and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Conflicts, synergies, and pathways forward" (2021, One Earth)
"Dunes in the world's big rivers are characterized by low-angle lee-side slopes and a complex shape" (2020, Nature Geoscience)
"River Damming Impacts on Fish Habitat and Associated Conservation Measures" (2023, Reviews of Geophysics)
"An integrated process-based model of flutes and tool marks in deep-water environments: Implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence and hybrid event beds" (2020, Sedimentology)

James Leonard Best has also published books with notable presses. These include:

"The Economy of a Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides" (2020, Oxbow Books)
"The World Atlas of Rivers, Estuaries, and Deltas" (2024, Princeton University Press)

Recognition for their scientific contributions includes being named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2015.

Best Publications

Anthropogenic stresses on the world’s big rivers

Jim Best

1225
Citations
The fluid dynamics of river dunes: A review and some future research directions

Jim Best

659
Citations
Sediment transport and bed morphology at river channel confluences

James L. Best

595
Citations
Mean flow and turbulence structure over fixed, two-dimensional dunes: implications for sediment transport and bedform stability

S. J. Bennett;J. L. Best

511
Citations
Separation Zone at Open‐Channel Junctions

James Leonard Best;Ian Reid

503
Citations
Flow Dynamics at River Channel Confluences: Implications for Sediment Transport and Bed Morphology

James L. Best

453
Citations
Three-Dimensional Sedimentary Architecture of a Large, Mid-Channel Sand Braid Bar, Jamuna River, Bangladesh

James Leonard Best;Philip J. Ashworth;Charles S. Bristow;Julie Roden

356
Citations
Morphological evolution and dynamics of a large, sand braid-bar, Jamuna River, Bangladesh

Philip J. Ashworth;James Leonard Best;Julie E. Roden;Charles S. Bristow

324
Citations
Depositional processes, bedform development and hybrid bed formation in rapidly decelerated cohesive (mud–sand) sediment flows

Jaco H. Baas;James L. Best;Jeffrey Peakall

306
Citations
Braided rivers: perspectives and problems

C. S. Bristow;James Leonard Best

298
Citations
Morphology and flow fields of three-dimensional dunes, Rio Paraná, Argentina: Results from simultaneous multibeam echo sounding and acoustic Doppler current profiling

Daniel R. Parsons;James L. Best;Oscar Orfeo;Richard J. Hardy

293
Citations
Flow, sediment transport and bedform dynamics over the transition from dunes to upper‐stage plane beds: implications for the formation of planar laminae

John S. Bridge;James Leonard Best

290
Citations
Effects of Bed Discordance on Flow Dynamics at Open Channel Confluences

Pascale Biron;James Leonard Best;André G. Roy

288
Citations
A Phase Diagram for Turbulent, Transitional, and Laminar Clay Suspension Flows

Jaco H. Baas;James L. Best;Jeffrey Peakall;Mi Wang

288
Citations
River bank instability from unsustainable sand mining in the lower Mekong River

Christopher R. Hackney;Stephen E. Darby;Daniel R. Parsons;Julian Leyland

288
Citations
Fluvial sediment supply to a mega-delta reduced by shifting tropical-cyclone activity

Stephen E. Darby;Christopher R. Hackney;Julian Leyland;Matti Kummu

287
Citations
Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT): A processing and visualization suite for moving-vessel ADCP measurements

D. R. Parsons;P. R. Jackson;J. A. Czuba;F. L. Engel

272
Citations
Three-dimensional structure of flow at a confluence of river channels with discordant beds

Bernard De Serres;André G Roy;Pascale M Biron;James L Best

267
Citations
Scour in large braided rivers and the recognition of sequence stratigraphic boundaries

James L. Best;Philip J. Ashworth

253
Citations
An experimental study of turbulent flow over a low-angle dune

Jim Best;Ray Kostaschuk

250
Citations
Coherent Flow Structures in Open Channels

Philip Ashworth;S.J. Bennett;J.L. Best;S.J. McLelland

173
Citations
The fluid dynamics of river dunes : A review and some future research directions : Marine sandware and river dune dynamics

Jim Best

0
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Daniel R. Parsons University of Hull

Philip Ashworth University of Brighton

Kenneth T. Christensen University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Andrew Nicholas University of Exeter

Stuart N. Lane University of Lausanne

Jeff Peakall University of Leeds

Jaco H. Baas Bangor University

Gregory H. Sambrook Smith University of Birmingham

Marcelo H. Garcia University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ray Kostaschuk Simon Fraser University

External Links

Personal website of James Leonard Best Google Scholar page

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