Michael Strasser is a Full Professor in Sedimentary Geology at the University of Innsbruck since October 2015.
Born in 1977 in Kilchberg, Switzerland, he studied Earth Science at ETH Zurich and also gained his PhD in 2008 from there. Following this, he received a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNFS) fellowship to support post-doctoral work at the Research Centre for Ocean Margins, Univ. Bremen, Germany, and worked as MARUM Post-Doc fellow there until 2011. From 2011 to 2015 he has been Assistant Professor for Sediment Dynamics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Professor Strasser conducts research on the quantitative characterization of dynamic sedimentary and tectonic processes and related geohazards. He investigates soft-sediment deformation, failure and mass-transport processes, their structures and deposits, and how they are embedded in the stratigraphic context. For his research he makes use of sedimentological, geophysical, geotechnical and numerical-modelling techniques. Important pillars of Strasser's research is the study of geological processes in lakes as models for Oceans, and his involvement in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), which explores Earth's structure and history through scientific ocean drilling.
Professor Strasser's research contributes to the better understanding of the geological processes that govern the nature and evolution of earthquakes, subaquatic landslides and tsunamis. His research results help towards a more accurate assessment of risks from such natural hazards to people and infrastructure. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers since 2005 and received prestigious awards, including the AGU/JPGU Asahiko Taira Prize 2017, IAS young scientist award 2014, the Hans-Cloos-Prize 2011 and the ETH Medal 2008.
