Research
- Fluvial geomorphology
- Sediment transport in rivers
- River incision modelling
- Quantifying erosion rates using Cosmogenic Nuclides.
Tasks
- ICWRGC coordination of the NetCDA project.
- Supervision and mentoring of WASCAL Graduate Students from the Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC) in Benin.
- Strengthening the German partner network of WASCAL.
Community contributions
- 2019 – 2021: Board member of the German Young Geomorphologists
- 2019 & 2020: Co-convening a session at the EGU in Wien titled “Crowd-solving Problems in Earth Sciences”
- 2019 & 2020: Co-convening a session at the EGU in Wien titled “Novel Approaches in Geochronology: Quantifying Geomorphological Processes and Landscape Dynamics”
Research Experience
2024-now: Project coordination of NetCDA, International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) – Koblenz, Germany.
2019-2023: Postdoc and project coordination of the TG02-project URSACHEN, International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) – Koblenz, Germany.
2016-2021: Doctoral student at the German Research Centre for Geosciences, Department of Earth Surface Geochemistry – Potsdam, Germany.
2015: Research Intern at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy – Potsdam, Germany.
Teaching Experience
2023-now: Annual lecture on “Sediment transport in river basins: from source to sink.” Universität Bonn – Agricultural Sciences and Resource Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ARTS) program.
2020: Development and lecture in UNESCO-International Sediment Initiative (ISI) training workshop: “River basin sediment monitoring and management”.
2016-2018: Student Assistant “Isotopic quantification of dates and rates in geomorphology” – Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Education
2009-2013 Master of Science, Soil Geography and Earth Surface Dynamics – Wageningen University, The Netherlands
2013-2015 Bachelor of Science, Soil, Water and Atmosphere – Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Publications in scientific journals
Lodes, E., Scherler, D., van Dongen, R., Wittmann, H.: The story of a summit nucleus: Hillslope boulders and their effect on erosional patterns and landscape morphology in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera. Earth Surface Dynamics, 11, 305–324, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-305-2023, 2023.
Van Dongen, R. Discharge variability and river incision along a climate gradient in central Chile. PhD thesis, http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-32011, 2021.
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Wittmann, H. and von Blanckenburg, F.: Cosmogenic 10Be in river sediment: where grain size matters and why, Earth Surf. Dynam., 7, 393–410, doi:10.5194/esurf-7-393-2019, 2019
Germer, S., van Dongen, R. and Kern, J.: Decomposition of cherry tree prunings and their short-term impact on soil quality, Appl. Soil Ecol., 117–118(January), 156–164, doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.05.003, 2017.
Conference contributions
van Dongen, R., Hoffmann, T., Dietrich, S. Global variations in SSC-Q relationships and the controlling catchment characteristics. EGU 2022 (talk).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D. The influence of climate on landscape evolution in central Chile. Mid-European Geomorphology Meeting 2021 (talk).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Wendi, D., Deal, E., Meier, C., Marwan, N., Mao, L. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) controls on mean streamflow and streamflow variability in Central Chile. EGU 2020 (PICO).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Deal, E., Meier, C., Mao, L., Lisac, I. Discharge variability along a climate gradient in Chile: seasonality and (eco-)hydrological modulation by catchment attributes. EGU 2019 (PICO).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Deal, E., Meier, C., Mao, L., Lisac, I. Which catchment characteristics control the magnitude-frequency distribution of river discharge? AGU 2018 (poster).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Wittmann, H., von Blanckenburg, F. Grain size-dependent 10Be concentrations in river sediment: Why they matter in high mountain landscapes. Central European Conference on Geomorphology and Quaternary Sciences, 2018 (talk).
van Dongen, R., Scherler, D., Wittmann, H., von Blanckenburg, F. Where do 10Be-derived denudation rates depend on grain size? EGU 2018 (poster).
van Dongen, R., Germer, S., Kern, J., Stoorvogel, J. Visual versus chemical evaluation: Effects of pruning wood decomposition on soil quality in a cherry orchard (Northeast Germany). EGU 2016 (PICO).
