Nicolas Steeb

Function

Wissenschaftlicher Assistent

Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements

Torrents and Mass Movements

Contact

nicolas.steeb(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 22 69+41 44 739 22 69

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi LG D 04

Research interests

Sustainable water resources management is one of the biggest challenges of the 21th century. It requires a balance of interests between water use, water protection and flood control. Within this nexus my research focus lies on the field of river management, respectively in the understanding of fluvial and geomorphological processes and related natural hazards.

Specifically my interests are:

Large wood in torrents and rivers

Fluvial geomorphology and ecological hydraulic engineering

Interaction of water, forest and natural hazards

Hydrological extreme events

GIS modeling

Projects

Large wood management in rivers

Education and employment

Since 2015: Scientific assistant with the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, research unit "Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements", group “Mountain Torrents”

2013-2014: : Master of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Water Resources. Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU), ETH Zürich. Thesis “River-Monitoring in the Canton Thurgau“

2013: Employment with Pöyry Schweiz AG in Zürich, Water and Environment section. River assessments in the Canton St. Gallen (ecomorphology, hydraulic engineering register& neophytes), data management in GIS

2012: Internship at the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) in Berne, Section for Rural Development. Regional development projects, natural resources, sustainability assessments and controlling

2005 – 2011: Master of Science in Geography at the University of Zürich. Minors in Environmental and Earth Sciences. Thesis “Requirements for a Water Exchange in Southern Alberta – A Stakeholder Assessment”

1998 – 2004: High school Glattal (Dübendorf ZH)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

WOODFLOW

Wood in rivers fulfills important ecological functions. However, in case of flood events large wood may become a considerable source of danger. The aim of the research program WoodFlow is to better understand large wood dynamics in order to minimize associated risks.

Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Ruiz-Villanueva, V.; Badoux, A.; Rickenmann, D.; Böckli, M.; Schläfli, S.; Steeb, N.; Stoffel, M.; Rickli, C., 2018: Impacts of large flood along a mountain river basin: the importance of channel widening and estimating the large wood budget in the upper Emme River (Switzerland). Earth Surface Dynamics, 6, 4: 1115-1137. doi: 10.5194/esurf-6-1115-2018

Rickli, C.; Badoux, A.; Rickenmann, D.; Steeb, N.; Waldner, P., 2018: Large wood potential, piece characteristics, and flood effects in Swiss mountain streams. Physical Geography, 39, 6: 542-564. doi: 10.1080/02723646.2018.1456310

Steeb, N.; Rickenmann, D.; Badoux, A.; Rickli, C.; Waldner, P., 2017: Large wood recruitment processes and transported volumes in Swiss mountain streams during the extreme flood of August 2005. Geomorphology, 279: 112-127. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.10.011

Further scientific publications

Rickenmann, D.; Steeb, N.; Badoux, A., 2018: Improving bedload transport determination by grain-size fraction using the Swiss plate geophone recordings at the Erlenbach stream. In: Paquier, A.; Rivière, N. (eds), 2018: River flow 2018 - ninth international conference on fluvial hydraulics. River Flow 2018, Lyon-Villeurbanne. (8 pp.). doi: 10.1051/e3sconf/20184002009

Ruiz-Villanueva, V.; Badoux, A.; Boes, R.; Rickenmann, D.; Rickli, C.; Schalko, I.; Schmocker, L.; Schwarz, M.; Steeb, N.; Stoffel, M.; Weitbrecht, V., 2016: Large wood management in rivers – a practice-oriented research project in Switzerland. In: Koboltschnig, G. (eds), 2016: 13th congress INTERPRAEVENT 2016. 30 May to 2 June 2016. Lucerne, Switzerland. Extended abstracts "Living with natural risks". 13th congress INTERPRAEVENT 2016, Lucerne, Switzerland. 244-245.

Steeb, N.; Rickenmann, D.; Rickli, C.; Badoux, A.; Waldner, P.; Stetter, F., 2016: Size reduction of large wood in steep mountain streams. In: Constantinescu, G.; Garcia, M.; Hanes, D. (eds), 2016: River flow 2016. Proceedings of the international conference on fluvial hydraulics. River flow 2016, St. Louis. 2310-2325.

Ruiz-Villanueva, V.; Badoux, A.; Boes, R.M.; Rickenmann, D.; Rickli, C.; Schalko, I.; Schmocker, L.; Schwarz, M.; Steeb, N.; Stoffel, M.; Weitbrecht, V., 2016: Large wood research in Swiss watercourses. In: Constantinescu, G.; Garcia, M.; Hanes, D. (eds), 2016: River flow 2016. Proceedings of the international conference on fluvial hydraulics. River flow 2016, St. Louis. 2307-2314.

Magazine article and brochures

Steeb, N., 2019: Verkleinerungsprozesse von Schwemmholz bei Hochwasser. Ingenieurbiologie: Mitteilungsblatt, 7-13.

Steeb, N.; Kuratli, B.; Rickli, C.; Badoux, A.; Rickenman, D., 2017: GIS-Modellierung des Schwemmholzpotentials in alpinen Einzugsgebieten. FAN Agenda, Fachleute Naturgefahren Schweiz, 9-12.

Other publications

Badoux, A., Böckli, M,. Rickenmann, D., Rickli, C., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Zurbrügg, S., & Stoffel, M. (2015). Large wood transported during the exceptional flood event of 24 July 2014 in the Emme catchment (Switzerland). Proceedings of the Third International Conference Wood in World Rivers, 108-110.

Böckli, M., Badoux, A, Rickli, C., Rickenmann, D., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Zurbrügg, S., Stoffel, M. (2016). Large wood-related hazards during the extreme flood of 24 July 2014 in the Emme catchment (Switzerland). Interpraevent 2016, 190-191.

Rickenmann, D., Waldner, P., Usbeck, T., Köchli, D., Sutter, F., Rickli, C., & Badoux A. (2015). Large wood transport during the 2005 flood events in Switzerland. Proceedings of the Third International Conference Wood in World Rivers, 124-126.

Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Badoux, A., Boes, R., Rickenmann, D., Rickli, C., Schalko, I., Schmocker, L., Schwarz, M., Steeb, N., Stoffel, M., Weitbrecht, V. (2016). Large wood research in Swiss watercourses. River Flow 2016, 2307-2314.

Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Badoux, A., Boes, R., Rickenmann, D., Rickli, C., Schalko, I., Schmocker, L., Schwarz, M., Steeb, N., Stoffel, M., Weitbrecht, V. (2016). Large wood management in rivers – a practice-oriented research project in Switzerland. Interpraevent 2016, 244-245.

Empirical relations between large wood transport and catchment characteristics. EGU 2017, Vol. 19, 4367.

Steeb, N., Rickenmann, D., Rickli, C., Badoux A. & Waldner, P. (2016). Size reduction of large wood in steep mountain streams. River Flow 2016, 2320-2325.