My Research

Current affiliations

Royal Museum for Central Africa (Senior Researcher)
Department of Earth Sciences
Natural Hazards Unit (GeoRiskA)

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Assistant Professor)
Department of Geography
Cartography and GIS Research Group (CGIS)

My Google Scholar Profile

Current research

I am a geoscientist working in the field of remote sensing, photogrammetry, geohazards and volcanology. I am half-time Assistant Professor in Remote Sensing at the Department of Geography of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Cartography and GIS Research Group) and half-time Senior Researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Natural Hazards Research Unit). My current research focuses on the use of optical and radar imagery to study geohazards and their interactions with urban environments. More specifically, I work with (In)SAR remote sensing, photogrammetry, UAV imagery and historical aerial photographs on case studies mostly located in Africa. Since 2007, I have developed an expertise in the understanding of volcanic, magmatic and tectonic processes associated with the Lake Kivu rift basin and Virunga Volcanic Province, in the western branch of the East African Rift System.

Ongoing research projects:

Past research

From 2007 to 2011, I worked as a junior scientist at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Belgium, where I have acquired my first 5-years of field experience in Central Africa, especially in the Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP).

From 2012 to 2015, I developed a PhD research funded by the National Research Fund of Luxembourg (AFR Grant n°3221321) under the supervision of Dr. Nicolas d’Oreye (European Center for Geodynamics & Seismology, Luxembourg), Prof. Matthieu Kervyn (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) and Dr. François Kervyn (Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium), entitled: “Dynamics of volcanic activity in a youthful extensional setting studied by means of remote sensing and ground-based monitoring techniques: Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes (North Kivu, D.R. Congo) ». The public defense of the Thesis took place on 4th March 2016, at the VUB.

From April 2016 to September 2020, I worked full-time for the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), in the Natural Hazards Unit (GeoRiskA) of the Department of Earth Sciences. My research mostly focused on developing the expertise of my service in photogrammetry and ground-, air- and space-based remote sensing. For the MUZUBI project (BELSPO STEREO-III PRogramme), I produced a time-series of accurate digital topographic models of the Nyiragongo crater, at a decimetre-scale resolution, based on UAS-based image acquisitions performed during field expedtions on top of the volcano and inside its active crater. For the PAStECA project (BELSPO BRAIN-be Programme), I developed (and still develop) a processing workflow to scan, prepare and process the historical aerial photographs archived at the RMCA, in order to produce orthomosaics of Central African areas. Such products highlight the land use and land cover of the 1940’s, up to the 1980’s and represent a real treasure for environmental studies in Africa.

Career

  • Since 2020 – Assistant Professor, Dpt. Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Senior Researcher, Dpt. Earth Sciences, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium
  • 2016-2020 – Postdoc Researcher, Dpt. of Earth Sciences, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Belgium
  • 2016 – Postdoc Researcher, European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology (ECGS), Luxembourg
  • 2012-2015 – PhD Researcher, European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology (ECGS), Luxembourg
  • 2007-2011 – Junior Researcher, Dpt. of Earth Sciences, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Belgium

Education

  • 2012-2016 – PhD Thesis in Science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium
  • 2006-2007 – MSc in Natural Risk Management, University of Liège (ULg), Belgium
  • 2005-2006 – Agrégation en Sciences, University of Namur (FUNDP), Belgium
  • 2003-2005 – MSc in Geology, University of Liège (ULg), Belgium
  • 2001-2003 – BSc in Geology, University of Namur (FUNDP), Belgium

Grants and Prices

  • 2013 – FNR Award for the Outstanding Promotion of Science to the Public
  • 2012-2015 – AFR PhD Grant n°3221321, FNR Luxembourg
  • 2011 – Laureate of the Belgian Foundation for the Vocation, Grant 2011