Ph.D. in Sciences (14 March 2006), Geography. University of Liège

M.Sc. in Cartography and Remote Sensing (Oct. 1999 – Oct. 2001). Inter-university degree (ULg, ULB, UCL)

M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Geography (Sept. 1995 – Sept. 1999). University of Liège

May 2013 to present: Senior scientist, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium

Oct. 2012 to April 2013: Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Geography, University of Liège, Belgium

Dec. 2011 to Sept. 2012: Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Geology and Soil Science, Ghent University, Belgium

Dec. 2008 to Nov. 2011: Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Environment & Sustainability (IES), European Commission - Joint Research Centre (JRC), Italy

Oct. 2006 to Nov. 2008: Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Geography, University of Liège, Belgium

Oct. 1999 to Sept. 2006: Research - Teaching assistant, Department of Geography, University of Liège, Belgium

2022 Nature Geoscience cover (Vol. 15, 12, Dec. 2022) entitled “Urbanized landslides” associated with the paper “Acceleration of a large deep-seated tropical landslide due to urbanization feedbacks” published by Dille et al. (2022) in Nature Geoscience.

2021 Nature Sustainability cover (Vol. 4, 11, Nov. 2021) entitled “Human activity and landslide risk in Africa” associated with the paper “Historical dynamics of landslide risk from population and forest-cover changes in the Kivu Rift” published by Depicker et al. (2021) in Nature Sustainability.

2020 Award to PhD student: Natural Hazards Section Award for Graduate Research given by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) to Elise Monsieurs for her PhD research on “The potential of satellite rainfall estimates in assessing regional landslide hazard in Central Africa”. https://www.africamuseum.be/en/research/discover/news/resist
https://eos.org/agu-news/2020-agu-section-awardees-and-named-lecturers

2013 Marie Curie fellowship "Back to Belgium Grant”, co-funded by the European Commission (FP7-PEOPLE-COFUND-2008) and BELSPO: 2-year postdoctoral research grant at Ghent University (Belgium). “Predicting soil properties in humid tropical Africa”. (Declined)

2012 Qualification “Maitre de Conférences”, Section 23 - “Géographie physique, humaine, économique et régionale”; Section 35 - “Structure et évolution de la terre et des autres planètes”; Section 36.- " Terre solide : géodynamique des enveloppes supérieures, paléobiosphère"

2008 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (IEF): 2-year postdoctoral research grant at the University of Durham (UK). “The impacts of climate change on landslide reactivation in temperate environments”. (Declined)

2008 Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF): International postdoctoral grant for 3-month mobility at the Science and Technology Faculty of Tangier, Abdelmalek Esaâdi University (Morocco). “Mapping landslide processes in the Rif area (Morocco): an approach combining remote sensing and GIS tools”. (Declined)

Olivier Dewitte, a geographer, is employed as a senior research scientist in the Department of Earth Sciences of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren, Belgium). With a holistic knowledge and understanding of processes and quantitative research methodologies in geomorphology, natural hazards and environmental changes, his research aims to better understand the changing landscapes of Africa and the hazards they pose. More specifically, his interests are mainly focused on landslide, soil erosion and flash flood related topics in sub-Saharan Africa. His research is framed around field experience (Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda) and addresses the challenges of disaster risk reduction in data-scarce context through capacity building and cooperation activities.

In 1999, Olivier Dewitte graduated from the geography master programme at University of Liège (ULiège) with a focus on geomorphology and global climatology. Then, from 1999 to 2006, he was research/teaching assistant at ULiège giving support to lectures in various fields of physical geography, geomorphology and climatology. During that period he obtained in 2001 an inter-university master degree in cartography and remote sensing (ULiège, ULB, UCLouvain). In 2006, Olivier completed a PhD in geography (ULiège) on landslide hazard analysis using remote sensing and statistical modelling approaches. Before joining the RMCA in May 2013, Olivier held postdoc positions at ULiège (2006 – 2008, and 2012), Ghent University (2011-2012) and the Joint Research Centre (DG JRC, Italy) of the European Commission (2008-2011).



Key interests and expertise:

• Earth surface processes and quantitative geomorphology

• Natural hazard assessment framed around disaster risk reduction strategies

• Environmental changes and land degradation

• Remote sensing applied to ground deformation and hillslope dynamics

• Specific interest for landslide, flash flood and gully erosion processes

• Implementation of research strategies in data-scarcity contexts

• Extensive qualitative and quantitative field experience in Africa

• Capacity building spirit and cooperation activities