Physical Geography | Department of Geography

Climate & Earth

Focus on human-environment interactions in the context of a changing environment and climate.

News in the spotlight

06-06-2024

Anik Juli Dwi Astuti successfully defended her PhD

On Tuesday, 28 May 2024, Anik Juli Dwi Astuti successfully defended her PhD: "Connectivity Perspectives on Water and Sediment Flows in the Gumara and Rib Catchments (Ethiopia).”

Supervisors: Prof. dr. Amaury Frankl (Ghent University), Prof. dr. Jan Nyssen, (Ghent University)

Examination Committee: Prof. dr. Haosheng Huang (Ghent University) (Chair),Dr. ir. Stefaan Dondeyne (Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel),Prof. dr. Kristine Walraevens (Ghent University), Prof. dr. Ann Van Griensven (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Dr. Tesfaalem Ghebreyohannes, (Mekelle University, Ethiopia).

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Research themes

The research group Climate & Earth (CLEAR) focuses on the impact of human activities on soil-land-atmosphere interactions. A first research pillar comprises geomorphological processes and specifically the influence of land use and climate on land degradation and soil conservation. A second research pillar concentrates on atmospheric science and addresses the impact of soil and land use change on local and regional climate.

The research group investigates fundamental processes related to geomorphology and atmospheric science as well as impacts on society and ecosystems. To do so, advanced and state-of-the-art methods, including erosion and climate modelling, photogrammetry, sediment fingerprinting and data science is used.

Will our farmers soon be without usable land?

On fertile soil and soil erosion

According to geographer Amaury Frankl (UGent), it is not the gold or iron that we extract from the ground that is the most valuable resource, but rather the soil itself. Without realising it, we have been losing many years of our soil for many years. What dangers that poses and how we can solve it, he comes to tell us.
(In Dutch)

Geomorphological survey in the Global South

On land degradation in Ethiopia

Land degradation, and the impact that this has on the geomorphological functioning of the earth's surface, is a global problem, but in countries of the Global South it is particularly severe. With our research at the Department of Geography of Ghent University, we have been active in Ethiopia and are joining forces to restore the country.