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

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

Career

Nyssen was born in

Sint-Martens-Voeren Voeren (; ) is a Flemish Dutch-speaking municipality with facilities for the French-speaking minority, located in the Belgian province of Limburg. Bordering the Netherlands to the north and the Wallonia region's Liège Province () to the sout ...

. He was employed as a

mailman A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

from 1977 to 1997 in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

in Belgium. In 1991 he started a parallel study of Geography at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

, 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 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, air (wind), plants, and ...

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

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

University, Belgium, in which he investigated the role of human and natural processes in

land degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...

in the

Ethiopian highlands The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...

. Promoters of this research were professors Jean Poesen and Seppe Deckers (both at

), Jan Moeyersons at the

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

) and

Mitiku Haile Mitiku Haile (born 1951) is Professor of Soil Science at Mekelle University (Ethiopia), undertaking research on sustainable land management, restoration of degraded lands and integrated soil fertility management. Career * 1985: MSc at Ghent U ...

Mekelle University Mekelle University ( ti, መቐለ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a higher education and training public institution located in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, 783 kilometers north of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. Mekelle University is one of the lar ...

in Ethiopia. He also worked several years in projects of university

development cooperation Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...

in Ethiopia. Since 2007 Nyssen has been a professor in the Department of Geography of

, where he was appointed a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 2014. Nyssen lectures

Geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

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 environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

, Microclimatology, and Regional Geomorphology for students in Geography and Physical Land Resources at

UGent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. He promoted dozens of Master and PhD theses, particularly at

(Belgium),

(Ethiopia) and

Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar University ( am, ባሕር ዳር ዩኒቨርስቲ) is a university in the city of Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. The University is a combination of two smaller institutes formed earlier, after the department ...

(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 highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

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 (; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. History and literature ...

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 Hydrogeomorphology has been defined as “an interdisciplinary science that focuses on the interaction and linkage of hydrologic processes with landforms or earth materials and the interaction of geomorphic processes with surface and subsurface wate ...

and

soil conservation Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other unsust ...

. Most of his research activities have been in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Soils of Ethiopia

Nyssen's research showed that high levels of

soil loss Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to soil erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession reverts the land to ...

in the

are caused by a combination of erosive rainfall, steep slopes, and impacts of

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal 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. The most concentrated d ...

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

, an agricultural system where the

open-field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acre ...

dominates, and the aftermath of poverty induced by a long history of

feudalism in Ethiopia Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

. 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 Rephotography is the act of repeat photography of the same site, with a time lag between the two images; a diachronic, "then and now" view of a particular area. Some are casual, usually taken from the same view point but without regard to seas ...

, 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 Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

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

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

spoil tip A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quant ...

s of the derelict coal mining industry, and the age-old agriculture in the Pays de Herve region, which led to the occurrence of

lynchet A lynchet or linchet is an Terrace (earthworks), earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lyn ...

s 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 to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way t ...

s have drawn his attention because they contribute to conserving water in the rivers'

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

. He studied their effect on discharges of the Chevral creek, that is part of the

Ourthe The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia (Belgium). It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and 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. Nyssen was involved in supporting access to

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s in the area of Vottem,

Herstal Herstal (; wa, Hesta), formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. It lies along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which c ...

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