This is what drives me

Earth surface processes decisively shape our planet. They are responsible for mobilising, routing and depositing the materials that build our environment. It is these processes my research is devoted to.

Earth surface processes and the landforms they create and modify are the main conveyors of information about driving factors and boundary conditions that control how the system in which we live works. Such information may be gathered by measuring key parameters of the modern process regime or by unravelling the sedimentologic record created by these processes. My motivation is to bridge these two branches of geomorphic research in a quantitative way.

This is what I use

I need specified tools, mainly computational, experimental and analytic tools, both at the laboratory and field scale. One of the most versatile tools I got into contact with for my computational needs is the free statistic software R (see my dedicated R page for this). It is the one software for all tasks, and, even more important than its universality, it is a pilar for open, transparent, reproducible and participative science. R is accepeted and utilised by a continuously growing community and provides the base for a common language, across all disciplines and levels of expertise.

Some of the questions I asked

How can we seismically quantify flash floods and the sediment they carry (go)? How much sediment is transported by an ice-covered river (go)? How can we quantify the role of biota in mobilising river bed material (go)?
How can we sense the preparation phase of large slope failures (go)? What are the triggers of rockfalls (go)? At which scales and by which processes do coastal cliffs fail (go)?
What is the seismic signature of wind interfering with vegetation? How can stone pavements in deserts be created and maintained (go)? What are the limits of statistic unmixing of grain-size data (go)? How to visualise chronometric data in the most unbiased way (go)? How can one improve precisions of stratigraphically related OSL ages (go)? Which role does software play in science and what shall be improved?

The structure and purpose of this website

This website is more than just a window unravelling the positive bits of my personal picture. It is also an attempt to organise my story, my tools and my philosophy in a coherent way. I believe in sharing ideas, knowledge and tools. And this is one of the main drivers for running this channel.