Function and Responsibilities:

Senior research scientist.
Coordinator of the physical laboratories of Section 4.6 Geomorphology.

Ombudsperson for doctoral training.

Research Interests:

My scientific field is geomorphology, the study of landscapes, their evolution, and of the processes shaping them. My interest in general is in the interaction between climate, tectonics, and Earth surface processes. My research centers on furthering the understanding of the physical processes that shape the Earth’s surface by detailed observations, theoretical work, and analogue or numerical modelling. In my work, I collect field data with state-of-the-art instrumentation, and analyze and interpret it with statistical and theoretical methods.

In the past, my research has focused on fluvial geomorphology of mountain streams, with a particular focus on bedrock channels and step-pool systems. In addition, I am interested in the design and testing of new field instrumentation, in channel-hillslope coupling, and in the sediment cascade. My current research focus is on the seismic signal generated by granular flows and the dynamics of fluvial valleys.

Career:

Since 2023: Senior researcher at the GFZ German Centre for Geosciences, Germany

2019-2022: Section head (ad interim) of Section 4.6 Geomorphology at the GFZ German Centre for Geosciences, Germany

Since 2013: Senior researcher at the GFZ German Centre for Geosciences, Germany

2010-2013: Research Scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland

2007-2010: Post-doctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland

Education:

2007: Thesis: Controls on bedrock channel morphology - Experimental and theoretical investigations and comparison with natural channels

2003-2007: Doctoral thesis at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK

1999-2003: Degree studies in Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, UK

Projects:

The dynamics of channel belts and fluvial valleys

We attempt to understand how fluvial valleys form, what controls their morphology, and how they interact with the river channels they host. We have recently developed a model to predict the steady state width of fluvial valleys and the valley width dynamics in time.

Key collaborators: Stefanie Tofelde, FU Berlin, Aaron Bufe, LMU, Taylor Schildgen, GFZ

Seismic signals generated by granular flows

We want to understand how granular flows, such as landslides and debris flows, generate seismic waves, to ultimately invert signals to obtain information about natural events.

Key collaborators: Hui Tang, GFZ, Yifei Cui, Tsing Hua University, China, Gongdan 'Gordon' Zhou, Institute of Mountain Hazard and Environment, CAS, China, Yan Yan, Southwest Jiatong University, China, Shuai Li, Institute of Mountain Hazard and Environment, CAS, China

Research Boards and Committees:

Scientific societies, conferences and workshops
2015-2019: Deputy, Geomorphology Division, European Geosciences Union (EGU)
Since 2005: Session Organiser and chair, EGU General Assembly
2011-2014: Coordinator for workshops for young scientists in the Geomorphology Division at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU)
2013: Organising committee: International workshop of acoustic and seismic monitoring of bedload and mass movements, September 2013, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
2009-2013: Programme Committee, Geomorphology Division, European Geosciences Union (EGU)
2009-2013: Deputy, Geomorphology Division, European Geosciences Union (EGU)

Editorial work
Since 2013: Associate Editor for the journal Earth Surface Dynamics (EGU, Copernicus)
2015: Special Issue: Acoustic and seismic monitoring of bedload and mass movements, Earth Surface Dynamics
2015: Special issue: Morphodynamics of steep mountain channels, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
2013: Special issue: Process geomorphology and ecosystems: disturbance regimes and interactions, Geomorphology
2012: Special issue: Disturbance regimes at the interface of geomorphology and ecology, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

Awards:

2025: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering Awards - Best Technical Note Award for the paper titled 'Experimental Design and Protocol for Standardized Measurements of Rock Erodibility in Fluvial Impact Erosion'
2024: Outstanding Reviewer, Earth Surface Dynamics, EGU/Copernicus
2023: Distinguished Visiting Professor, Tsing Hua University, Beijing, China
2019: Kirk Bryan Award for Cook, Turowski, Hovius "River gorge eradication by downstream sweep erosion", Nature Geoscience 2014.
2017: 2016 Editor's citation for excellence in refereeing, Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union
2016: Invited State-of-Science article on Field techniques for measuring bedrock erosion in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
2015: 2014 Editor's citation for excellence in refereeing, Water Resources Research, American Geophysical Union
2011: 2010 Editor's citation for excellence in refereeing, Journal of Geophysical Research (Earth Surface), American Geophysical Union
2010: Keynote / invited review article on semi-alluvial channels for Gravel Bed Rivers 7 (September 2010, Tadoussac, Quebec, Canada)
2003-2007: Peter Scheuer Research Student, Peterhouse, Cambridge, UK
2003-2006: NERC Blue Skies Research Studentship, UK