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Nature's fireworks (Credit: Derya Gürer, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

NH Natural Hazards Division on Natural Hazards

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European Geosciences Union

Division on Natural Hazards
nh.egu.eu

Division on Natural Hazards

President: Heidi Kreibich (nh@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Ira Didenkulova (didenkulova@mail.ru)

The Natural Hazards (NH) Division covers all natural hazards that can produce damage to the environment and to the society. Therefore, it is a place where scientists and researchers of various geosciences disciplines meet with sociologists, economists and people responsible for territorial and urban security and planning policies. The aim is to improve the understanding of the evolution of the processes and to discuss new technologies, methods and strategies to mitigate their disastrous effects. The division is structured in eleven subdivisions as follows: Hydro-Meteorological Hazards, Volcanic Hazards, Landslide and Snow Avalanche Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, Sea and Ocean Hazards, Remote Sensing and Hazards, Wildfire Hazards, Environmental, Biological and Natech Hazards, Natural Hazards and Society, Multi-Hazards and Climate Hazards. Most of the topics that are treated in the NH Division are also treated in other EGU divisions, which is expected due to the intrinsic transversal nature of the NH Division.

The NH Division is one of the historical Divisions of the EGU that was established when EGU was founded and has been and is one of the largest divisions to which many geo-scientists provide steadily contributions of papers and ideas over the years.

As for all EGU Divisions, an Early Career Scientist Award is established also for the NH Division and is given to young researchers who obtain outstanding results in the assessment and mitigation of natural hazard. In addition, the NH Division awards the Plinius Medal that recognises outstanding interdisciplinary natural-hazard research and the Soloviev Medal that recognises outstanding scientific contributions in fundamental research on natural hazards. Both medals are open for all career stages.

Recent awardees

Alberto Viglione

Alberto Viglione

  • 2023
  • Plinius Medal

The 2023 Plinius Medal is awarded to Alberto Viglione for seminal contributions to understanding and assessing hydrological extremes.


Peng Cui

Peng Cui

  • 2023
  • Sergey Soloviev Medal

The 2023 Sergey Soloviev Medal is awarded to Peng Cui for his high-level career in research and applications on debris flows and other mountain hazards, and his leadership on disaster risk reduction in adherence with the Sendai Framework.


Ankit Agarwal

Ankit Agarwal

  • 2023
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2023 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Ankit Agarwal for his distinguished work in complexity science for better understanding, quantifying and predicting hydroclimatic extremes.


Ambra Hyskaj

Ambra Hyskaj

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Ambra Hyskaj Naturally Occurring Asbestos in the asbestos-free European Union approach. Is asbestos exposure prevention being understood correctly?


Sarah Hồ

Sarah Hồ

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Sarah Hồ A Comparison of Agriculture-related Characteristics of Flash and Traditional Drought


Yuly Paola Rave Bonilla

Yuly Paola Rave Bonilla

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Yuly Paola Rave Bonilla Numerical modelling of the volcanic emissions dispersion from La Soufrière de Guadeloupe


Anne Mangeney

Anne Mangeney

  • 2022
  • Sergey Soloviev Medal

The 2022 Sergey Soloviev Medal is awarded to Anne Mangeney for unique contributions to the understanding of geohazards by integrating novel modelling approaches with field and laboratory observations, and the transfer of knowledge towards risk assessment.


Slobodan Nickovic

Slobodan Nickovic

  • 2022
  • Plinius Medal

The 2022 Plinius Medal is awarded to Slobodan Nickovic for pioneering work on modelling sand and dust storms and for significant contributions to the development of a global dust advisory and warning system.


Christian Grimm

Christian Grimm

  • 2022
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Christian Grimm Advancing the ETAS Model to Improve Forecasts of Earthquake Sequences and Doublets


Ingrid Bjørge-Engeland

Ingrid Bjørge-Engeland

  • 2022
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Ingrid Bjørge-Engeland Observations by ASIM of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes accompanied by Elves


Joan Villalonga

Joan Villalonga

  • 2022
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Joan Villalonga Observational characterization of meteotsunami triggering in the Balearic Islands from an ultra-dense observational network


Wazita Scott

Wazita Scott

  • 2022
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Wazita Scott Weather circulation patterns associated with extreme precipitation events over Italy


Yuchen He

Yuchen He

  • 2022
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Yuchen He A numerical and experimental study of Galilei-transformed nonlinear wave groups


Jakob Zscheischler

Jakob Zscheischler

  • 2022
  • Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists

The 2022 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists is awarded to Jakob Zscheischler for fundamental work of an international standing, defining and developing models for the identification and risk assessment of compound and inter-related hazards, in a changing climate.

Latest posts from the NH blog

Earth Citizens and Natural Hazards: a few words from the perspective of our environment, the inhabited planet, Earth

In January 2023, I visited the Amazon Forest in Suriname. During my visit, I met indigenous people known as the Saramaccers, a Maroon tribe residing in the heart of the Amazon Forest. I found it fascinating that the Saramaccers consider themselves an integral part of nature. Their motto is ‘If you respect nature, nature will be your friend and stand by you’. Nature extends a helping hand to humans more than humans extend to nature. In fact, the natural environment …


You can be the next Early Career Scientist Representative for the NH Division!

The Division on Natural Hazards of the European Geosciences Union is looking for a new Early Career Scientist (ECS) representative (rep) and co-representative (co-rep) for the period 2024-2026. The outgoing rep (Silvia De Angeli) and co-rep (Negar Vakilifard) will be standing down officially at the EGU General Assembly 2024, so this is your opportunity to take these roles! Why become an Early Career Scientist representative? Being the ECS rep for an EGU division is a learning and enriching experience. As …


Training of Trainers to improve Geological Disasters Resilience in Malaysia

Over the years, we have witnessed a growing number of geological disasters due to climatic shifts. One such disaster is the landslide, and the main culprit of such occurrences can be attributed to intense rainfall coupled with high slope angles, especially in areas previously not expected to be susceptible. In this post we share a successful experience of ‘training of trainers’ in Malaysia, to increase local resilience for landslides and geological disasters in general. Since the 1990s, landslide incidents have …


Multiple perspectives to understand multi-hazard risks. Why is it important to meet face-to-face when we could also meet digitally?

This summer the University of Vienna has hosted an inspiring summer school on multi-hazard risk management, bringing science outreach and research closer together. In this post, Till Wenzel provides some insights about the importance of face-to-face meetings to bring together multiple perspectives and better understand multi-hazard risks. The summer school has been organized by the Vienna International School of Earth and Space Science (VISESS), with members of the EU-Horizon project PARATUS. VISESS supports young researchers throughout the entire process, from …

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