Research Interests

• Tectonic setting of continental sedimentary basins.
• Ancient and Late Cenozoic rift zones.
• Basin evolution and Petroleum geology.
• Tectonic stress reconstructions from geologic and sismotectonic data.
• Tectonic geomorphology, digital terrain modelling.
• Neotectonics, paleoseismology, seismotectonics and GPS geodesy.

Awards

• 2009 : FNR Award for Outstanding Scientific Publication 2009 (Fonds National de la Recherche, Luxemburg), for paper Calais et al., 1998 (Nature)
• 1991 : 50th anniversary award of the Belgian Petroleum Institute (Brussels)
• 1982 : Laureate of the Travel Grant Concourse 1980 of the Belgian Ministry of National Education
• 1981 : Paul Fourmarier Award (University of Liège)

Appointments

• 12/2015 - : Editor in Chief, Journal of African Earth Sciences - Elsevier
• 04/2013 - : Head of Works (Chef de travaux) - Royal Museum for central Africa
• 07/2012 - 03/2013 : Part time Manager of the AfricaArray Network - University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• 01/2004 - 03/2013 : Project geologist - Royal Museum for central Africa and consultant in petroleum exploration
• 04/2002 - 12/2003 : Consultant in informatics and environment
• 08/2001 - 03/2002 : IT Project Manager - Atos Origin S.A.
• 03/2001 - 07/2001 : Invited Research Fellow - University of Amsterdam
• 08/1989 - 02/2001 : Project geologist - Royal Museum for central Africa
• 08/1987 - 07/1989 : Assistant geologist - Université Catholique de Louvain
• 06/1986 - 07/1987 : Military service (as reserve officer)
• 06/1982 - 05/1986 : Petroleum geochemist - Petrofina research center
• 04/1981 - 05/1982 : Field mapping geologist in the Belgian Ardennes

Education

• 1988 : Ph.D. in Geology - Mineralogy (Université Catholique de Louvain / Petrofina,S.A.)
  - Ph.D. Thesis in organic geochemistry applied to petroleum exploration
• 1980 : Ms.C. in Geology - Mineralogy (Université Catholique de Louvain)
  - Ms.C. Thesis in structural geology in the Ardennes massif

Research topics

• Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Congo basin from a petroleum perspective.
• East African and Baikal rift systems.
• Active tectonics, paleoseismic activity and historical seismicity in East Africa.
• Tectonics, climate, sedimentation and volcanism in Lake Rukwa, SW Tanzania.
• Geothermal systems in the Rungwe volcanic Province, SW Tanzania.
• Active tectonics and landslides related to earthquakes in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan.
• Precambrian mobile belts of East-Central Africa and Central Asia.
• Active foreland transpressional and compressional belts in Central Asia.
• Microtectonics and kinematics of the North Variscan Front fold-and-thrust belt.
• Software development in Visual Basic for tectonic studies (Win-Tensor)

Professional activities

• Editorial activities:
  - Member of the editorial board of the Journal of African Earth Sciences since 2001
  - Invited editor for several special issues of international scientific journals
  
  
• International project leadership and participation:
  - Member of IGCP 482-489 project on the east Africa rift (2003-2007)
  - Projet INTAS Present-day deformation in the Altai-Sayan, Siberia (2000-2002)
  - Coordinator of EC INCO/COPERNICUS project "Landslide Risk Triggered by Earthquakes in Kyrgyzstan" (1998-2000)
  - Leader of IGCP 400 project "Geodynamics of Continental rifting" (1996-2000)
  - Projet EC-DGXII "Rukwa" (Paleoclimatic investigations in Lake Rukwa, Tanzania (1994-1996)
  - Projet INTAS-93-134 Continental rift tectonics and evolution of sedimentary basin (1994-1996)
  
  
• Belgian Federal research projects:
  - Inheritance of geological structures (Tanzania & Siberia, 1989-1993)
  - Active tectonics and natural risks in continental rift basins (Tanzania & Siberia, 1994-1999)
  - Active tectonics and sedimentation in the Rukwa basin (Tanzania, 2004-2007)
  - Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Congo Basin (RDC, 2008-2009)
  
  
• Organisation of conferences:
  - 1rst international meeting on water problems, Kinshasa (RDC), May 2007
  - 2nd meeting of IGCP 482-489, Mbeya (Tanzania), August 2005
  - Final meeting of IGCP 400 during the 31rst IGC, Rio de Janeiro (Brasil), August 2000
  - 3rd meeting of IGCP 400 at Irkutsk (Russia), August 1999
  - 2dn meeting of IGCP 400 at Gaborone (Botswana), June 1998
  - International Conference: Active Tectonic Continental Basins, Ghent (Belgium), May 1998
  - 1rst meeting of IGCP 400 in Dublin (Ireland): Lithospheric Structure, Evolution and Sedimentation in Continental Rifts, March 1997
  - Symposium of projet INTAS-93-134 at Novosibirsk (Russia): Continental rift tectonics and sedimentary basin evolution, May 1996
  
  
• Supervision of Ph.D thesis:
  - L. Kipata : Paleostress and mineralisations in the Katangan copper belt (Leuven, 2012)
  - A.S. Macheyeki: Neotectonics and rifting in Central Tanzania (Ghent, 2008)
  - U. Zain-Eldeen : paleostress in Gulf of Aqaba-Dead sea fault zone, Jordan (Ghent, 2000)
  
  
• Examination committee for Ph.D thesis evaluation:
  - E. Kadima : Contribution géophysique à la connaissance du Bassin du Congo (Lubumbashi, 2011)
  - E. Matzenauer : Tectonics in the Préalpes Klippen and the Subalpine Molasse (Fribourg, 2011)
  - A. Melnik : Management of natural and anthropic risks in the Baikal region (Liège, 2010)
  - A.S. Macheyeki: Neotectonics and rifting in Central Tanzania (Ghent, 2008)
  - O. Vetel : Extension dynamics of the Turkana rift, Kenya (Brest, 2005)
  - R. Hus : Analog modeling of relay fault zones in the Baikal rift (Ghent, 2005)
  - F. Kervyn : SAR interferometry in Rukwa Basin, W-Tanzania (Louvain-la-Neuve, 2001)
  - S. Ceramicola : Seismic stratigraphy in the Baikal rift basin (Ghent, 2001)
  - S. Laurent-Charvet : Tectonics of the Chinese Tien-Shan (Orléans, 2001)
  - U. Zain-Eldeen : Paleostress in Gulf of Aqaba-Dead sea fault zone, Jordan (Ghent, 2000)
  
  
• Organisation of summer field courses on structural geology and neotectonics:
  - Lake Issyk-Kul in northern Tien Shan (Kirgyzstan, 1989-2000)
  - Chuya basin and Lalke Teletskoye in Altai (Siberia, 1988)
  - Lake Baikal (Siberia, 1997)