News
Emeritus celebration Prof. Jan Nyssen
(27-09-2022)
Jan Nyssen has worked at the Department of Geography of Ghent University since 2007. Driven by passion for Ethiopian culture, he has established himself as a worldwide reference regarding the regional…
Hanne Hendrickx succesfully defended her PhD
(09-08-2022)
Monday 20 June, 2022, Hanne Hendrickx successfully defended her PhD “Capturing geomorphic change in high mountain environments using close-range sensing techniques ”. This work was supervised by Prof.…
Habtamu Assaye successfully defended his PhD
(14-09-2021)
On 30 August 2021, Habtamu Assaye successfully defended his PhD "Land Degradation and Resilience in the Subhumid Highlands of Ethiopia". Since 2017 he has been working at the Department of Geography u…
Are we loosing our soils?
(20-04-2021)
Amaury Frankl gives an online lecture on soil erosion. He stresses that soils are our most valuable natural resource and that we should take good care of it. In the field of physical geography that me…
Launch of ‘Tigray: Atlas of the Humanitarian Situation’
(10-03-2021)
At the beginning of November 2020, an armed conflict emerged in Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region. This conflict emerged on top of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of a destruct…
State of Science paper on gully erosion control
(06-01-2021)
Following the 8th International Symposium on Gully Erosion , the research group Physical Geography published a State of Science paper in a Special Issue of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms on met…
Sofie Annys successfully defended her PhD
(16-12-2020)
On December 11, Sofie Annys successfully defended her PhD entitled ‘Impact of River Regulation on Downstream Socio-hydrologic Systems in Ethiopia’. In her research, Sofie has adopted an interdisciplin…
Prof. Frankl in the media on soil erosion and control in Flanders
(14-10-2020)
Soil is our most valuable natural resource, but is locally being lost at high rates due to erosion. Therefore, the Department of Geography is investigating soil erosion control solutions such as veget…
Sofie Annys wins Prize for Tropical Geography Yola Verhasselt
(18-08-2020)
PhD student Sofie Annys has been awarded the Prize Yola Verhasselt for Tropical Geography for her research on the impact of the Ribb dam and irrigation scheme on local livelihoods in northern Ethiopia…
Research of the department in the picture at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union
(02-06-2020)
The research of PhD student Hanne Hendrickx got LEGO-fied by the residence artist Stacy Philips at the virtual General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union 2020, the largest conference on Geosci…
Successful workshop on ‘Mountains and Climate Change‘
(05-02-2020)
January 23, 2020, the Departments of Geography, Geology and Biology organized a workshop about climate change in the Swiss Alps, in cooperation with the Swiss embassy. The three speakers could count o…
Establishment of a Geopark Tembien in Ethiopia
(29-01-2020)
As part of research-based outreach and popularisation, UGent’s Department of Geography now prepares the establishment of a Geopark Tembien in Ethiopia, jointly with local communities, authorities and …
Permafrost researcher Hanne Hendrickx on CanvasTV
(28-05-2019)
Our graduate assistant and PhD student Hanne Hendrickx has been interviewed by Belgian television about the consequences of permafrost thawing. See the 5-minutes video :
Excursion of the Institutional University Cooperation with Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia)
(02-04-2019)
In the framework of the steering committee meeting of the IUC programme with Bahir Dar University, a two-day excursion was held. Among others, the participants visited the western edge of the Ethiopia…
Honouring of young scientists at the Royal Palace
(06-03-2019)
"Their Majesties the King and the Queen of Belgium honoured young academics and scientists on the occasion of the Spring Concert of February 28, 2019. With their creativity, their dynamism and their i…
UGent geographers work with landless farmers in Ethiopia to obtain carbon credits
(21-01-2019)
Since the signing of the Paris Agreement the climate policy landscape is changing rapidly. New international finance mechanisms may help communities in the global South to manage their natural resourc…
A successful edition of the 'Dag van de Wetenschap'
(28-11-2018)
On Sunday, November 25, we warmed young and old for Geography by giving them a Virtual Reality view of the world. By linking things such as urbanization, deforestation, migration and agriculture, we i…
Hailemariam Meaza completes PhD research
(31-10-2018)
Promoted by Prof. Jan Nyssen, Prof. Jean Poesen and Dr. Amaury Frankl, Hailemariam Meaza successfully defended his PhD in Sciences: Geography on ‘Sustainability of land and water resources in the marg…
Prof. Jan Nyssen has become section editor for “Land Degradation and Development”
(16-10-2018)
Professor Jan Nyssen has been appointed as section editor for the journal “Land Degradation and Development”, which has an Impact Factor of 7.27. LDD has been divided into seven distinct subject‐speci…
Two UGent MSc students study ecosystem services in relation to reforestation in Ethiopia
(02-09-2018)
Two Geography master students are currently in Ethiopia, carrying out fieldwork for their MSc thesis, in the framework of the VLIR-UOS South Initiative “Estimating the potential of ecosystem service v…
Geographical research on one of the highest mountains in Ethiopa
(01-09-2018)
In the framework of university development cooperation, UGent’s department of Geography carries out research in Afro-alpine environments. On Mt. Guna in Ethiopia , source of three major rivers, Adugna…
Abebech Abera Beyene completes PhD research
(28-06-2018)
Promoted by Prof. Jan Nyssen, Prof. Nico Verhoest and Dr. Seifu Tilahun, Abebech Abera Beyene successfully defended her PhD in Sciences: Geography on 'Water balance, extent and efficiency of irrigati…
Is migration from Africa caused by drought and desertification?
(28-06-2018)
Prof. Jan Nyssen discusses on Radio 1 the complex interaction between humans and their environment in the Sahel. Climatologically, the Sahel is wetting. Intensive and often unsustainable agriculture p…
Development project on water and sanitation starts in Northern Ethiopia
(06-02-2018)
Northern Ethiopia is one of the most disadvantaged areas worldwide in water and sanitation. In order to improve both the water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as to improve access and hygiene, …
Etefa Guyassa successfully defends his PhD
(03-10-2017)
On Friday 22 September Etefa Guyassa successfully defended his PhD entitled "Hydrological response to land cover and management in a semi-arid mountainous catchment of northern Ethiopia”. His researc…
Special Issue of ‘Land Degradation and Development’ about Ethiopia’s lakes
(05-09-2017)
As a follow-up to the TropiLakes conference that took place on the shores of Lake Tana in 2015, the journal Land Degradation and Development has released a special issue related to Environmental Chang…
Science and policy interactions resulted in a success story for land restoration in Ethiopia
(24-08-2017)
Since many years, UGent’s Department of Geography carries out joint research projects with Mekelle University, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, in relation to soil erosion, land degradation and conse…
Prof. dr. Jan Nyssen on drought and famine in Africa
(22-03-2017)
Read the article in the 'Gazet van Antwerpen' here. The two photographs from the same mountain slope in Ethiopia illustrate how reforestation increased the resilience against drought in the country, m…
Launch of PhD research on the impact of large dams in Ethiopia
(28-02-2017)
A research project on Systemic analysis of dam-driven transitions of downstream alluvial plains in Ethiopia has been launched in January 2017 by exploratory field visits along the Beles and Tekezze Ri…
Launching VLIR-IUC programme in Ethiopia
(10-01-2017)
From January 16 to 20, the VLIR-IUC programme 'Wisdom at the source of the Blue Nile: BDU Spearheads Climate Resilient Green Economy Research in Northwest Ethiopia' will be launched. Therefore, a larg…
Physical geography shines out at Ghent Africa Platform celebration
(20-12-2016)
With over 14 contributions, research in physical geography received much attention on the 10th anniversary symposium of the Ghent Africa Platform. Two sessions were chaired by prof. dr. Jan Nyssen, dr…
Collaboration started with Fribourg University (Switzerland)
(15-09-2016)
After a successful first fieldwork campaign on the Col du Sanetsch , Hanne Hendrickx starts research on permafrost and associated geomorphological processes. For her PhD, she will collaborate with th…
Biadgilgn Demissie defends his PhD
(07-09-2016)
On 2 September Biadgilgn Demissie has successfully defended his PhD on 'Ephemeral stream dynamics, land cover changes and climate variability in the marginal grabens of the northern Ethiopian Rift Val…
UGent geographers publish in top journals
(16-06-2016)
The new Impact Factors of scientific journals have been released. The journal Land Degradation and Development in which many UGent geographers publish their articles has reached an IF 8.145. Prof. Dr.…
Successful annual BAG excursion!
(15-06-2016)
On Friday 10 June, the Physical Geography group organized the annual excursion of the Belgian Association of Geomorphologists . The topic of the day was the hydrogeomorphology of the Aa river basin ,…
2016 BAG annual excursion – Registration open
(16-03-2016)
The annual excursion of the Belgian Association of Geomorphologists is organized by the physical geography group of Ghent University and takes place on June 10, 2016. Topic is ‘Geomorphology and flood…
Strengthening wisdom at the source of the Blue Nile
(08-03-2016)
Prof. dr. Jan Nyssen started as a program coordinator for the VLIR-UOS Institutional University Cooperation programme that was initiated at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. The framework for a 12-ye…
Sil Lanckriet defends his PhD
(04-02-2016)
On 22 January 2016, Sil Lanckriet successfully defended his PhD on interactions between climate shifts, land degradation and humans in the Horn of Africa. The PhD was supervised by Prof. dr. Jan Nysse…
Field visit GeLiGeo
(09-01-2016)
8th of January, a field visit was organized by the Physical Geography group of Ghent University, including participants from Ghent University, Liège University, Lille University, British Geological Su…
Special Issue of Land Degradation and Development on tropical Africa
(06-10-2015)
The journal Land Degradation and Development has released a special issue related to Environmental conservation for food production and sustainable livelihood in tropical Africa. Prof. Jan Nyssen and …