Geo4Göttingen Conference 2025
The Geo4Göttingen Conference, held at the University of Göttingen in September 2025, is one of the most important annual meetings for the geoscientific community in Germany. The event brings together researchers from geography, geology, geophysics, and related disciplines to present cutting-edge findings and discuss interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the Earth’s systems.
The Geomorphology and Geochronology Research Group from the Department of Geography at the University of Cologne was strongly represented this year, showcasing a range of ongoing research projects addressing landscape evolution, sediment dynamics, and geodata integration.
Presentations from Cologne
Several contributions from the Cologne team highlighted the diversity and depth of current research:
- Dennis Handy: Developing a Research Data Pipeline for Integrating and Processing High-Dimensional Geoscientific Data
→ Presentation of a novel workflow for efficiently integrating and analyzing complex geoscientific datasets. - Dominik Brill: A high-resolution record of soil erosion based on portable luminescence reader derived colluvium chronologies from the Lower Rhine Area
→ Providing new insights into soil erosion processes and landscape dynamics in the Lower Rhine region. - Simon Matthias May: Unravelling the key mechanisms and chronology of zebra stripe formation in the Atacama Desert (N Chile)
→ Investigating the formation mechanisms and temporal development of striking zebra-striped patterns in one of the driest places on Earth. - Svenja Riedesel: A tephrochronological framework for glacial lake outburst flood deposits in the Channeled Scablands, U.S. Pacific Northwest
→ Reconstructing flood events and their deposits using volcanic ash layers as chronological markers.
In addition, Prof. Tony Reimann gave a plenary lecture titled
“Earth-Evolution at the Dry Limit – new insights from a geo-bio collaborative research project”, presenting recent findings from the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1211 “Earth – Evolution at the Dry Limit”, which investigates geo-biological processes at the threshold of habitability under hyperarid environmental conditions.
DFG Bernd Rendel Prize 2025 awarded to Katharina Seeger
A special highlight of the conference was the announcement of the DFG Bernd Rendel Prize 2025, awarded to Katharina Seeger, PhD candidate at the University of Cologne. The prize recognizes early-career researchers for outstanding and original contributions to the geosciences prior to completing their doctoral degree.
In her research, Katharina Seeger focuses on the vulnerability of coastal lowlands, particularly river deltas and coastal plains, to sea-level rise, storm surges, tsunamis, and river floods. Using satellite-based remote sensing data, she studies regions where little to no local measurements are available. Seeger’s research operates on local to global scales and contributes to several international projects, including studies in the Ayeyarwady Delta (Myanmar), the Mekong Delta (Vietnam), and the Gulf of Guinea, helping to improve global understanding of coastal subsidence and flood risk.
We warmly congratulate Katharina Seeger on this exceptional achievement and thank all members of the Cologne Geography Department for their inspiring contributions to Geo4Göttingen 2025!
edited by Luisa Loers