Changes

Marie Charrière (1986) graduated in February 2011 in Environmental Geosciences, MSc program Analysis, Monitoring and Presentation of Natural Hazards, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. For her MSc Thesis she studied the propagation of the Frank Slide rock avalanche (Alberta, Canada) using a combination of field survey and numerical methods.

In June 2011, Marie started her PhD research at the Delft University of Technology within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network “Changes”, financed by the European Community. The Changes project aims to evaluate the impact of climate and socio-economical changes on mountain risks in Europe. Her PhD research focuses on the evaluation of the effectiveness of visual risk communication to raise risk awareness of the general public.

To answer her research questions, she designed and created an exhibition on natural hazards (floods, landslides, earthquakes and avalanches) in her case study (Ubaye Valley, France). Her approach is mainly based on social sciences and action research. For her PhD, she also reviewed how smartphone applications are used to communicate avalanche risk. She also contributed to the work of fellow young researchers on citizen science and on the effectiveness of the use of WebGIS as a learning tool.

Marie is currently finishing her PhD from Switzerland as well as working in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction. She is the Chair of the Young Scientists Club of the International Association for Promoting Geoethics and Member of the Board of Directors of Climanosco, an online platform for climate science outreach.

More information: Changes project website