Jan Nyssen (born in 1957) is a Belgian physical geographer, and professor of geography at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

Career

Nyssen was born in Sint-Martens-Voeren. He was employed as a mailman from 1977 to 1997 in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

in Belgium. In 1991 he started a parallel study of Geography at the University of Liège, where he obtained the degree of Licentiate in Geography in 1995 with a dissertation on

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

in Ethiopia. Between 1998 and 2001 he carried out PhD research at

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

University, Belgium, in which he investigated the role of human and natural processes in land degradation in the Ethiopian highlands. Promoters of this research were professors Jean Poesen and Seppe Deckers (both at

), Jan Moeyersons at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren) and Mitiku Haile of Mekelle University in Ethiopia. He also worked several years in projects of university development cooperation in Ethiopia. Since 2007 Nyssen has been a professor in the Department of Geography of

, where he was appointed a full professor in 2014. Nyssen lectures

Geomorphology Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand wh ...

Hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

, Microclimatology, and Regional Geomorphology for students in Geography and Physical Land Resources at UGent. He promoted dozens of Master and PhD theses, particularly at UGent (Belgium),

(Belgium), Mekelle University (Ethiopia) and Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia). Nyssen has been the president of the ''Belgian Association of Geomorphologists'' from 2017 through 2021, and was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''Land Degradation and Development'' journal from 2019 to 2020. Nyssen co-edited the book ''Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains: The Dogu'a Tembien District'' and self-published a book in the

Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is primarily spoken by the Tigrinya people, ...

Research

Nyssen's research contributes to the identification and quantification of changes in the coupled system "humans-environment" – with a focus on slope processes, hydrogeomorphology, land degradation and soil conservation. Most of his research activities have been in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Soils of Ethiopia

Nyssen's research showed that high levels of soil loss in the Ethiopian highlands are caused by a combination of erosive rainfall, steep slopes, and impacts of

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

, overgrazing, an agricultural system where the open-field system dominates, and the aftermath of poverty induced by a long history of feudalism in Ethiopia. He further studied how the high density of soil and water conservation structures led to land resilience in the highlands. Through the use of rephotography, Nyssen linked changes in the landscape with land degradation. Nyssen notes that Ethiopian farmers have ploughed the same lands and hills for thousands of years with oxen ploughs. They know their soils and know when rains will come or what they have to plant if rains are late. Since his first stay in Ethiopia in 1994, Nyssen observed that the amount of food available to rural households, as well as the overall living standard has strongly improved.

Lynchets and beaver dams in Belgium

Nyssen's research in Belgium is also related to the consequences of human activities on geomorphic processes: the reintroduction of beavers, spoil tips of the derelict coal mining industry, and the age-old agriculture in the Pays de Herve region, which led to the occurrence of lynchets or cultivation terraces, by analogy to a common practice in current Ethiopia; The

beaver dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers; it creates a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, alligators, cougars, foxes, eagles, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify th ...

s have drawn his attention because they contribute to conserving water in the rivers' headwaters. He studied their effect on discharges of the Chevral creek, that is part of the Ourthe basin. The research confirmed that such dams have a buffering effect on discharges: downstream the peak discharges are much lower than what was observed before beaver reintroduction.

Public activities

When war erupted in Tigray in 2020, Nyssen advocated strongly for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid for the people of Tigray, and helped expose starvation and extreme civilian sufferings in Tigray. In 2024, he published a book on the "Tigray tragedy". Nyssen was involved in supporting access to public footpaths in the area of Vottem, Herstal and

in Belgium.

References

External links

Profile page Prof. dr. Jan Nyssen
UGent {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyssen, Jan Belgian geographers Academic staff of Ghent University University of Liège alumni Living people 1957 births People from Voeren Flemish geographers