Summary (11/2022): 62 peer-reviewed papers published in international science journals since 2007, 11 as 1st author. Current Hirsch index H = 23(Google Scholar), 2426 total citations on November 2022, of which 870 citations on 1st author articles (Google Scholar). 18 publications in major journals including Nature (1), Nature Communications (1),Nature Scientific Reports (2), Earth-Science Reviews (1), Geology (3), Earth and Planetary Science Letters (3), Quaternary Science Reviews (4), GSA Bulletin (2), Seismological Research Letters (1) and Geophysical Research Letters (3).
Research interests
Sedimentary records of natural hazards
Paleoseismology
Lacustrine and marine geology
Subaquatic landslides and turbidites
Marine geophysics and geotechnics
Curriculum Vitae
Since Aug. 2020
Assistant Professor at University of Innsbruck (UIBK) - Sedimentary Geology Group “Applied geophysics / Geohazard analysis based on sedimentary records” Venia Docendi in "Geology" on 11/2021: “Lacustrine paleoseismology: from process understanding to new insights in strong earthquake recurrence at subduction zones”
Apr. 2016 - July 2020
University Assistant at University of Innsbruck (UIBK) - Sedimentary Geology Group “Applied geophysics / Geohazard analysis based on sedimentary records”
Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2015
Assistant Professor at Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) “Sedimentary records of natural hazards in Chile”
Oct. 2011- Dec. 2013
Postdoctoral researcher / Lecturer at ETH Zürich, Switzerland Advisor: Prof. Dr. Michael Strasser Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation “Stability of underwater sediments upon earthquake shaking: implications for quantitative paleoseismology”
Oct. 2010 - Sep. 2011
Postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University, Belgium Advisor: Prof. Dr. Marc De Batist Funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) “Paleoseismic reconstruction in Chile using sedimentary archives in lakes and fjords”
Jan. 2006 - May 2010
Ph.D. student at Ghent University, Belgium Advisor: Prof. Dr. Marc De Batist Funded by the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology – Flanders (IWT) “Sublacustrine landslide processes and their paleoseismological significance” "Paleoclimate record of Lake Challa (equatorial East Africa)"
Aug. 2005 - Dec. 2005
Scientific personnel at Ghent University, Belgium Advisor: Prof. Dr. Marc De Batist CRIMEA: “Contribution of high-intensity gas seeps in the Black Sea to methane emission to the atmosphere”
Research Projects
Principal Investigator
"QuakeScene Chile": Evaluating megathrust earthquake scenarios in South Central Chile using new strategies in lacustrine paleoseismology (FWF, Austria, 2022-2026). More info
"Tiefer Sehen": Tyrolean lakes as geological archives. Science Communication Project (FWF, Austria, 2021-2022) More Info
Altausseer See 3D: A limnogeological analysis of Lake Altaussee (collaboration with BOKU; Walter Munck Foundation for the Oceans)
"Tyrol on Shaky Slopes": Did strong earthquakes trigger the rockslide clusters in Tyrol (Austria)? Evidence from lacustrine sedimentary records (Tiroler Wissenschaftsförderung TWF, 2018-2020) More info
Quantitative lacustrine paleoseismology in Carinthia (Austria) (FWF, Austria,2017-2021) More info
"Process understanding in subaquatic paleoseismology: Earthquake-triggered remobilization of surficial sediments at ocean margins and lacustrine basins" (Nachwuchsförderung – University of Innsbruck, 2016-2018). More info
“Spatio-temporal patterns of earthquake recurrence in South-Central Chile: quantitative analysis of lacustrine paleoseismic records” (FONDECYT, Chile, 2015)
Tsunami deposits in coastal lakes in South-Central Chile (Ghent University, Belgium, 2011-2014)
PhD and Postdoc fellowship (FWO and IWT Flanders, 2006-2011)
Co-Principal Investigator
Post-Doc Project Walter Menapace: Mud volcanism and turbidites occurrence as joint tools to identify paleoearthquakes in the Gulf of Cadiz and adjacent abyssal plains (FWF Lise-Meitner grant, 2021-2023)
Post-Doc Project Yin Lu: Developing a 220 kyr-long continuous earthquake record in the Dead Sea Basin (FWF Lise-Meitner grant, 2020-2022)
IODP Proposal 866 (funded): Expedition 386 Japan Trench Paleoseismology
Studying the significance of subaqueous slides in Austrian lakes (ÖAW, 2019-2020)
Recurrence of great earthquakes and tsunamis in Central Chile (FONDECYT, Chile, 2015-2018)
Lacustrine paleoseismology in Alaska (FWO Flanders, Belgium, 2012-2017)
Geotechnical characterization of subaquatic slope stability (MARUM, Germany, 2013)
Collaborator
GEO-STATE Tyrol: Groundbreaking Evidence of Postglacial Seismotectonic Activity in the Achen Valley, Tyrol? (Tiroler Wissenschaftsförderung, 2020-2022)
SLATE - Submarine Landslides and their impact on European continental margins (ITN: Marie-Skłodowska-Curie program, European Commission, 2017-2021)
Core-XCT: X-ray Computed Tomography as new tool in Earth Science for non-destructive core analyses (Nachwuchsförderung – University of Innsbruck, 2018-2019)
ARMONIA: Harmonising administration and public institutions for trans-frontier risk prevention and disaster management. (Interreg V-A, 2018-2021)
Earthquake archive in the geological record of the Japan Trench (FWF, Austria, 2016-2020)
Lacustrine paleoseismology in Switzerland (SNSF, Switzerland, 2011-2015)
Lacustrine paleoclimate records in Chile (FWO Flanders, Belgium, 2008-2012)
Tephrostratigraphy in South-Central Chile (University of Oxford, UK, 2013-2016)
Paleoclimate record of lake Challa, East Africa (ESF, Ghent University, 2007-2011)
Teaching
Geophysics (BSc)
Applied Geophysics (MSc)
Analytical Lab Methods (BSc)
Engineering Geology: Introduction to Natural Hazards (BSc)
Supervisor for Earth Science Practicum (BSc)
Contributions to Limnogeology (MSc) and Natural Hazards in Mountain Regions (MSc)
At previous positions (UACh, ETHZ):
Geophysics (BSc)
Seismology (BSc)
Limnogeology (BSc)
collaborations in Marine Geology (MSc), Geomorphology (BSc) and Applied Seismology (MSc)
Supervision / mentoring of 7 Ph.D, 10 M.Sc. and 11 B.Sc. students (some ongoing)
Training of students and guest researchers in geophysical data acquisition, processing and interpretation; sediment coring; geochemical, petrophysical and sedimentological logging and analyses; granulometry; standard geotechnical tests, etc. Organization of field courses in Limnogeology, Applied Geophysics, Geomorphology.
Other scholarly activities
Invited conference talks: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (AGU), online, 2020 // European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU), Vienna, Austria, 2013
Invited lectures: DGGV #Sedimentology.Lunch (online), 2021 // MARUM Research Seminar (University Bremen), 2020 // LMU Munich, International Colloquium in Geological Earth Surface Processes, 2019 // Geo-Colloquium, University of Innsbruck, 2017 // Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, 2014 // United States Geological Survey, Anchorage, USA, 2012 // Belgian National Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics, Ghent, Belgium, 2010
Reviewer for funding agencies and several journals including Nature Geoscience, Geology, Marine Geology, Geomorphology, Quaternary Science Reviews, Journal of Geophysical Research, G-Cubed, Geological Society of America Bulletin, Tectonophysics, Quaternary International.
Co-Convener at the International Sedimentology Congress 2014 (Geneva) “Sedimentology of extreme events”, EGU 2018/2019/2020/2021 (Vienna) ) “Limnogeology”, INQUA 2019 “Subduction Zone Paleoseismology”
Co-Editor GSL Spec. Pub. 500: Subaqueous Mass Movements and their Consequences
Participation at conferences: EGU, AGU, ISC, INQUA, IGC, ILIC, GEOSUR, AGU Chapman, ESF and national conferences
Public outreach: presentations at several events for the promotion of science in Belgium and in Chile; publications and comments in newspapers in Austria, Belgium and Chile. Documentary, public talks and interviews about earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Chile. TV Interviews on Austrian lake projects.
Participation at workshops: ECORD Summer School on “Submarine Landslides, Earthquakes and Tsunamis”, Bremen, Germany, 2012; Submarine Paleoseismology Workshop: Using giant piston coring within IODP to fill the gap in long-term records of great earthquakes, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 2015
Research stays: MARUM Bremen, 2012 (4 months): Geotechnical analysis of lake sediments. GFZ Potsdam, 2008 (3 weeks): Impregnation and microfacies analysis of lake sediments. MARUM Bremen and ETH Zürich (4 weeks): core scanning (XRF and MSCL)
Scientist board member in Research Centers (RC) / Doctoral Programs (DP): DP Natural Hazards in Mountain Regions (UIBK); RC Geodynamics-Geomaterials (UIBK); RC Natural Risks (UACh); RC Quaternary Research (UACh)
Committee member in PhD/MSc commissions (5);
Coordinator/instructor for the geophysical equipment (subbottom profiler, geo-electrics, GPR), grain-size lab (Mastersizer 3000) and varve lab at the UIBK
Research expeditions: Geophysical mapping/profiling and sediment coring on lakes in Chile (16), Alaska (5), Switzerland (4), Austria (10) and Turkey (1) for a total of 560 days in the field. Geophysical mapping on R/V Sonne offshore Japan (SO251; 2016); R/V Belgica on the Belgian Continental Shelf (2006); R/V Guaiqueri offshore Venezuela (2005)
