Sebastian Uhlemann - Earth and Environmental Sciences Area

Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in the Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division (CESD), working in collaboration with Baptiste Dafflon. My expertise lies within the geophysical imaging and monitoring of slope hydrological characteristics and processes.

I hold a B.Sc. degree in Geoinformatics and Geophysics from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany) and a joint M.Sc. Degree in Applied Geophysics from TU Delft (Netherlands), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and RWTH Aachen (Germany). In 2018 I received a Ph.D. degree from ETH Zurich in Applied Geophysics, within which I focused on geophysical characterization and monitoring of slope instabilities.

Before joining CESD and during my Ph.D. studies I worked at the Geophysical Tomography Team of the British Geological Survey as a Research Geophysicist. During this time, I contributed to and led geophysical studies related to hydrological, engineering, mining, and agricultural problems in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

My research focuses on the development and application of geophysical techniques (geoelectrical and seismic) to understand hydrological processes that impact upon groundwater dynamics, slope instabilities, and interactions with plants and the atmosphere at a range of scales. This includes optimization of survey designs, integrated analysis of geophysical and environmental/hydrological data, and development of novel geophysical monitoring approaches.

ResearchGate

Research Interests

My research interests include the development of geophysical monitoring approaches to understand slope instabilities (both on natural and engineered slopes) and groundwater dynamics to mitigate natural hazards, environmental pollution, and to improve groundwater usage and availability. This also comprises the optimization of survey design and the development of geophysical / geotechnical / hydrological property relationships to transfer geophysical results to geotechnical and hydrological data. My work at LBNL focuses on the application of geophysical techniques to the characterization of alpine and high latitude watersheds, combining a range of methodologies to obtain information on hydrological pathways and permafrost dynamics on subsystem to watershed scales. On the subsystem scale, I apply and develop approaches for the monitoring of subsurface flow and temperature dynamics. This work aims to support the understanding of the complex ecosystems typical for those areas and is set within the Watershed Function FSA and the NGEE Artic projects.