Life

Physical Geographer Arnaud Temme grew up in the rural south of the Netherlands, where the hills start but the mountains are far away. The nearby river Meuse, which drains parts of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, created the backdrop for his hikes but also for his first geographic questions. He studied Soil Water and Atmosphere (BSc) and Earth and Environment (MSc) at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, before doing his PhD based on fieldwork in the South-African Drakensberg (2008). In 2014, he reached tenure as associate professor at Wageningen University, before moving to Kansas State University in the United States in 2016. Throughout those years, he travelled widely within and outside of Europe and the US, publishing manuscripts based on studies in more than a dozen countries. In 2022, he was promoted to full professor at Kansas State University, and on June 1, 2024, he started work at the University of Innsbruck.

Because of professional interest and personal fascination, mountains landscapes were never as far away anymore as in his youth. Multiple research stays at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Studies in Colorado, United States, as well as fieldwork in the European Alps, the Apennines, the Rocky Mountains and several smaller mountain ranges, combined into a growing research focus on mountain soil- landscapes.

Research

In addition to a wide experience with observing, measuring, and sampling soils and landscapes in the outdoors, Temme has a strong modelling background. In his research, he attempts to reconcile empirical observations with mechanistic model simulations – which means that he develops computer models that simulate how soils and landscapes form, and then tests such models with real-world data. He is particularly expertised in simulating the combined evolution of soils and landscapes over hundreds and thousands of years. His working group in Innsbruck aims at using such models to better understand how our mountain societies are impacting, and are impacted by, the natural dynamics in mountain landscapes – such as slow soil development on the one side, and fast landsliding on the other side. The many interactions between natural and human processes, which form complex systems, are an explicit part of this focus. For instance, landslides can change soil properties, but (manmade or natural) changes in soil properties also change the risk of landslides. This makes predictions more complicated and less certain until we understand these interactions. Temme’s group uses a combination of simulations, field and lab observations, as well as geochronological determinations, to increase that understanding.

A secondary objective of Temme’s working group is to make the advanced models that are required for such studies, available to many other researchers via open-source code. In the modern scientific world, there is more and more focus on sharing not only findings, but also data and methods such as computer models, in order to save time and quickly help other scientists reach better results. For example, Temme’s main model, named Lorica, is available on GitHub. Temme is also invested in open data and open source science in his capacity as Chair of the Editors in Chief of Catena, an international journal of soils and geomorphology.