Winter Semester 2026/2027

September 10, 2026 – Prof. Dr. Pierre Lanari

University of Lausanne

High-speed metamorphism: Do mineral growth rates match the experiments?

Metamorphism is a fundamental geological process in which rocks are transformed by heat and pressure, resulting in the formation of new minerals and textures. This transformation occurs over a range of spatial and temporal scales and plays a central role in the geodynamic cycle. It shapes mountain ranges, drives crustal recycling and contributes to the formation of economically important resources. Metamorphism also induces dehydration and densification, processes that actively influence plate tectonics and are associated with rapid geological phenomena such as seismicity. But what controls the rate at which metamorphic reactions, particularly mineral transformations, proceed? While field-based petrological observations suggest timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, experimental data often yield much shorter timescales – on the order of days to weeks. I will present a case study using data-driven approaches to unravel the evolving conditions and timescales of a specific lower crustal metamorphic reaction. I will show how advances in analytical techniques and the development of user-friendly software for big data analysis are crucial to answering the long-standing question of the rates of metamorphic processes in natural systems.

Host: Mona Lüder

October 28, 2026 – Welcome Colloquium

Host: David Bajnai

Part of the Latin American Land Use under Climate Change (LALUC) Network

November 4, 2026 – Dr. Romina Achaga

Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

How can lake sediments reveal past land-use change in the Argentine Pampas?

Land use has intensified and changed over recent decades, with implications for soil erosion and sediment transport. Lake sediments provide valuable archives for investigating how human activities and climate variability have altered landscapes over time. To investigate the potential impacts of agricultural intensification and climate change on sediment dynamics, we study sediment cores from three shallow lakes in the Argentine Pampas, one of the World’s major agricultural regions. Previous work on these sediment cores has used environmental magnetic and geochemical proxies to reconstruct environmental changes over the last three centuries. We are now integrating existing results with preliminary grain-size analyses, historical land-use data, and sediment and soil samples from the three study sites, using End-Member Modelling Analysis (EMMA), a statistical framework for grain-size unmixing. This talk presents pilot research conducted at the Landscape Geoscience Group in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Dietze and Dr. Lisa Feist. We aim to characterize sediment source dynamics and transport processes and explore whether shifts in the sedimentary record can be linked to changes in land use. By comparing multiple lake records, we seek to differentiate site-specific responses from regional patterns of environmental change and develop a framework for investigating sediment source dynamics under agricultural intensification across the Argentine Pampas.

Host: Elisabeth Dietze

Habilitation Colloquium – Attendance restricted according to faculty regulations.
Not Eligible for Colloquium Signatures!

November 11, 2026 – Dr. S. Yoshi Maezumi

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

The Anthropocene Perspective: Reconstructing Past Human Environment Interactions to Inform Future Sustainability

November 18, 2026 – Dr. Zhiyong Lin

University of Hamburg

Host: Vanessa Fichtner

November 25, 2026 – Dr. Veronica Peverelli

Trinity College Dublin

A dual role for deep geological fluids in shaping Earth’s habitability

The emergence and persistence of life on Earth are intimately connected to the deep and shallow volatile cycles, driven by the redistribution of fluids between Earth’s reservoirs. From the deep mantle to the shallow crust, fluids occur in diverse forms on Earth and play a fundamental role in most geological processes. The interplay between the subduction of volatiles into the mantle, the release of primordial and/or recycled volatile components from Earth’s deep reservoirs, and their transfer to the surface modulates Earth’s habitability throughout geological time. On the one hand, volatiles and their redistribution sustain microbial life even in some of Earth’s most extreme environments, maintain a suitable atmosphere for human life, and concentrate metals that are essential to technological development. On the other hand, the episodic release of volatiles through magmatic activity can alter the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, creating short- or long-lived conditions that are inhospitable to life. I will present case studies illustrating the dual role of geological fluids and volatiles therein in sustaining or compromising different forms of life on Earth. I will discuss how constraining the role of Earth’s reservoirs in storing and releasing volatiles under evolving geodynamic regimes may improve our understanding of planetary habitability through geological time.

Host: M. Thereza G. Yogi

Eligible for Colloquium Signatures!

December 2, 2026 – Nikolauskolloquium

December 9, 2026 – Dr. Magdalena Hofmann

PICARRO

Host: Andreas Pack

December 16, 2026 – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jenny Suckale

Stanford University

Is it possible to stabilize glaciers and should we try?

Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge because of its global reach, long timescales, and cascading risks. It is not confined to a region or a generation: it touches every part of the planet and will continue to shape life for centuries. Its interactions with natural and human systems amplify hazards—rising seas, extreme weather, disrupted food and water supplies, public-health stresses, and geopolitical instability. Simply describing these hazards, as current models often do, is no longer enough. We need a new generation of models that go beyond diagnosis to identify scientifically rigorous, technologically feasible, and socially acceptable options for reducing the risk of reaching tipping points that could irreversibly damage our climate system. One of these tipping points is the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is drained by gigantic outlet glaciers that are currently accelerating. In this talk, I will explore whether it is possible to stabilize glaciers by removing or freezing water underneath the ice to increase friction and slow glacial motion. I will discuss progress to date, open questions and risks.

Host: Andreas Pack

January 6, 2027 – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paola Manzotti

Stockholm University

Host: Thomas Müller

January 13, 2027 – Dr. Olivia Barbee

Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen

Host: Johanna Kerch

January 20, 2027 – Dr. Rebekka Diestelkamp

Institute of Geography, Kiel University

Placed Utopias: Model Villages and the Making of Rural Futures in India and Germany

Across the world and throughout history, the village has served as a powerful ideal of harmony, progress, and a better way of living. Such imaginaries have also been shaped by colonial histories, development agendas, and normative ideas of rural improvement. This talk asks what it means to create a model village: which visions of the future underpin such projects, how they are translated into practice, and what understandings of rurality they produce. Drawing on three case studies—the state-led Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) in India, the self-declared model village Shelakewadi in Maharashtra, and the intentional community Hitzacker/Dorf in Germany— I explore how model-village ideals are reworked through development, aesthetic norms, and utopian aspirations. Rather than directly comparing the cases, I use them as different perspectives on model rurality. I argue that model villages can be understood as sites of placed utopianism, where rural futures are imagined, materialised, negotiated, and contested.

Host: Christoph Dittrich

January 27, 2027 – Hans-Peter Grossart

Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB), Berlin

Host: Johann Holdt

February 3, 2027 – Dr. Bibiana Betancur Corredor

Center for Development Research (ZEF), Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Host: Stephen Asabere

February 10, 2027

There is no lecture scheduled yet for this date.