Function and Responsibilities:

Section Head, GFZ 

Professor, University of Potsdam
Professor, University of Grenoble Alpes

Research Interests:

The quantitative modeling of complex Earth systems and their dynamical behavior, including crustal and lithospheric deformation, surface processes (erosion, sedimentation, and transport), thermal structure of the upper crust, fluid flow in the crust, subduction and mantle flow, rock deformation and scaled laboratory experiments. I have many years´ experience of collaboration with specialists in a wide range of fields, including structural geology, geomorphology (including fluvial, glacial geomorphology and soil dynamics), thermochronology, basin analysis, hydrology, seismography, metamorphic petrology, mantle flow (dynamic topography). Combining my knowledge of Earth sciences with my training in physics and mathematics, I develop and use sophisticated numerical models and methods to interpret the geological record and extract from it constraints on the physical processes at play in the Earth´s interior and near its surface.

Career:

2016 Guest Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of California, Berkeley

Education:

1983 Licence en Sciences Physiques, Université de Liege (Belgium) (Grande Distinction)

1988 PhD, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University (Canada)

Research Boards and Committees:

Since 2018: Board Member, Proceedings of the Royal Society A

Since 2016: Member of the Scientific Council of the Pascal Institute 

Since 2013: Associate Editor, E-Surf

Since 2012: Scientific Editor, Terra Nova

Awards: