If you have some questions or if you would like more information about the GORISK Scientific Network, Virunga volcanoes or volcano-tectonic activity in the Kivu basin, please do not hesitate to contact us (see e-mail addresses below).
Scientists of the Goma Volcano Observatory
The Goma Volcano Observatory is a national Congolese scientific institute dedicated to the monitoring of Congolese Virunga volcanoes. The GVO scientists record parameters of volcanic activity in order to prevent eruption and avoid disaster.
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Contacts:
General Director: Katcho KARUME (k a t c h o @ p h y s i c s . m a k . a c . u g)
Dr. Nicolas D’OREYE
Department of Geophysics & Astrophysics
National Museum of Natural History – LUXEMBOURG
European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology – LUXEMBOURG
N. d’Oreye is geophysicist, expert in instrumentation and ground deformation monitoring by means of terrestrial techniques with a 20 years long experience in the field. In charge of the Walferdange Underground Laboratory for Geodynamics in Luxembourg since 1994 he has also a long experience of the maintenance, the development and qualification of instruments as well as data analysis and interpretation.
In 2005 he started a pole of research at the MNHN for the use of Satellite Radar interferometry (InSAR) techniques. Since then he developed and ensures the systematic InSAR monitoring of some active African volcanoes mainly in Cameron, Cape Verde, Tanzania and DR of Congo.
Contact: n d o @ e c g s . l u
Dr. François KERVYN
Department of Earth Sciences
Royal Museum for Central Africa – BELGIUM
F. Kervyn is a senior scientist of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) for more than 12 years. In 2011, he became head of the Cartography & Remote Sensing Unit of the Earth Sciences Department. As a geologist, his expertise is the range of optical and radar Remote Sensing, GIS and Structural Geology. He was until recently in charge of a two years EU funded project in Goma (DRC) dedicated to the setup of a GIS Centre. He has a long field experience in Africa, mainly in East and Central parts (Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, etc.).
Contact: f r a n c o i s . k e r v y n @ a f r i c a m u s e u m . b e
Benoît SMETS
European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology – LUXEMBOURG
Vrije Universiteit Brussel – BELGIUM
Royal Museum for Central Africa – BELGIUM
B. Smets is a geologist specialized in geo-hazard assessment and management. From 2007 to 2011, he worked as junior scientist at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, where he has acquired a 5-years field experience in central Africa and especially in the Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP). His research is mainly focused on the combined use of 2D/3D remote sensing, GIS and field surveys to study and monitor volcanic activity and related hazards in the VVP.
He is currently developing 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. M. Kervyn (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) and Dr. François Kervyn (Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium), entitled: “Dynamics of volcanic activity related to Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes (North Kivu, DR Congo), studied by means of remote sensing and ground-based monitoring techniques”.
Contact: b e n o i t @ e c g s . l u
Caroline MICHELLIER
Department of Earth Sciences
Royal Museum for Central Africa – BELGIUM
Free University of Brussels (ULB) – BELGIUM
C. Michellier is a geographer and a demographer, specialized in vulnerability assessment. In the early 2000, she has studied the impact of floods on food security in Cambodia as a research fellow at the Brussels based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). It was followed by a research conducted at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) focusing on the consequences of AIDS on land use in Kenya. After a few years spent in the African Great Lakes region, she joined the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) to conduct a study on the impact of Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanic gases on the health of the population living in North Kivu, DRC.
Since June 2012, she is involved in GeoRisCA, a research project financed by the Belgian scientific policy (Belspo) and coordinated by the RMCA (Dr. F. Kervyn) in collaboration with ULB (Prof. E. Wolff), ULg (Prof. H.-B. Havenith) and VUB (Prof. M. Kervyn). By integrating vulnerability, GeoRisCA aims at assessing the risk to multi-hazards (seismic, volcanic and mass movement hazards) in a region going from Goma to Bujumbura (Central Africa), in order to support risk management.
Contact: c a r o l i n e . m i c h e l l i e r @ a f r i c a m u s e u m . b e
Dr. Fabien ALBINO
Department of Earth Sciences
Royal Museum for Central Africa – BELGIUM
F. Albino is a post-doctoral researcher in geophysics, expert in the analysis and the numerical modeling of ground deformation related to volcanoes. In January 2011, he defended his PhD thesis at the University of Savoie (France) in the laboratory ISTerre. His work focused on the numerical modeling of mechanical behavior of magma reservoirs and volcanic conduit, with the example of subglacial volcanoes in Iceland as well as andesitic volcanoes (such as Soufriere Hills or Mount St Helens). After his PhD, he spent one year as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Iceland, continuing his work on icelandic subglacial volcanoes with the study of the mechanical interaction between the Katla and Eyjafjallajökull. Now, he is involved in the Vi-X project, which is dedicated to the monitoring and the study of the Virunga Volcanic Province situated in central Africa.
Contact: f a b i e n . a l b i n o @ a f r i c a m u s e u m . b e
Prof. Matthieu KERVYN
Department of Geography
Vrije Universiteit Brussel – BELGIUM
Matthieu Kervyn holds a Master in Geography from the University Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and a PhD in Geology from Ghent University, Belgium. He is currently lecturer in geomorphology and natural hazards within the Department of geography of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He currently leads a research group in volcanology, geomorphology and natural hazards, supervising several PhD and post-doc researchers. His research focuses on the study of the geomorphology and spatial distribution of volcanic edifices, on the effect of volcano-related instability and erosion processes on volcanic morphologies, and on monitoring and assessing hazards in active volcano-tectonic regions of Africa. He has also a strong interest in landslide processes. His research combines observations from DEM and remote sensing analysis with analogue experiments and field observations. He recently broadened his research interests to the study of the management of geological risks and the build up of resilience within local communities in developing countries.
Contact: m a k e r v y n @ v u b . a c . b e
Sam POPPE
Department of Geography
Vrije Universiteit Brussel – BELGIUM
S. Poppe is a geologist with experience in volcano instability, volcano-tectonic analogue modeling and geo-hazard assessment. He completed his MSc studies at Ghent University (Belgium) with a study of the caldera complex at Karthala Volcano (Grande Comore) compared to analogue models of collapse calderas, and developed a quantitative approach for analyzing analogue caldera models with computerized X-ray micro-tomography techniques. In the framework of that MSc thesis, he gained field experience during a one-month field internship at the Karthala Volcano Observatory and Karthala Volcano. He further worked on analogue models of spreading and sagging of volcanic edifices.
He is currently working as a researcher on the GeoRisCA project under the supervision of Prof. M. Kervyn (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium), where he is responsible for the project Work Package ‘Volcanic Hazards’. This WP is focused on creating a new volcano-structural map of the whole Virunga Volcanic Province as part of an overall geomorphological analysis of the region, the study of the palaeo-volcanology through literature and field work and setting up an interactive lava flow hazard model for Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo Volcanoes.
Contact: s a m . p o p p e @ v u b . a c . b e
Ir. Gilles CELLI
Department of Geophysics & Astrophysics
National Museum of Natural History – LUXEMBOURG
European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology – LUXEMBOURG
Contact: g i l l e s . c e l l i @ e c g s . l u
Honorary Prof. Antoine KIES
BEFORE: University of Luxembourg – LUXEMBOURG
NOW: European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology – LUXEMBOURG
Contact: a n t o i n e . k i e s @ u n i . l u
Prof. Dario TEDESCO
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Napoli 2 – ITALY
Contact: d t e d e s c o @ u n i n a . i t
