email:                christel.hansen@up.ac.za Tel:                    +27 (0) 12 420 4255 Office:               Geography Building 1-18 Consultation:     From 3 April - Tuesdays 08:30-10:30

Research profile

Christel is a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. A geomorphologist and GIS specialist by training, her research interests include cold-climate geomorphology, Antarctic landscapes and ecosystems, active layer and permafrost dynamics, landscape and process studies, desert environmental studies, and remote sensing. Recently, she has focused more on the applied use of GISc in various fields. This has led to collaborations with individuals from engineering, renewable energy science, archaeologists, hazard / risk modellers, ecologists, zoologists, and remote sensing specialists. She also has extensive fieldwork experience, having spent 4 summer seasons in western Dronning Maud Land of Antarctica, one season on sub-Antarctic Marion Island, and having completed numerous fieldwork trips to the High Drakensberg of South Africa. Christel has also done fieldwork in the Altai Mountains of Russia.

Her technical expertise is focused on GISc, in particular geospatial statistical analyses, terrain analyses, and spatial MCDA, as well as (related to geomorphology), ground temperature and moisture dynamics, textural-fraction related work, and morphometrics. To read about her most recent research project, please click here.

Through her involvement in APECS and APECSSA, Christel has also helped organise numerous workshops, meetings, and webinars, and served as President of the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists (SAAG) 2019-2021. She is currently a member of the South African National Committee to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and represents South Africa on the Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information (SAGI). She is also a Geomatics Professional (GPr GISc1194) with the South African Geomatics Council (SAGC).

Qualifications

• BSc Geoinformatics - Cum Laude, University of Pretoria (2009)
• BSc (Hons) Environmental Analysis and Management - Cum Laude, University of Pretoria (2010)​
• MSc (Geography) - Cum Laude, Rhodes University (2012)
• PhD (Geography) - Rhodes Unversity (2018)
• GPr GISc1194 (SA)

Courses presented

• GIS 220 - Geographic data analysis (2018)
• GIS 310 - Geographic Information Systems (2019-present)
• GIS 708 - Advanced Geographic Information Systems (2020-present)
• GGY 166 - Southern African geomorphology  (2016)
• GGY 252 - Process geomorphology (2017)
• GGY 265 - Geomorphology of the built environment (2017)
• GGY 283 - Introductory Geographic Information Systems (2018)
• GMC 110 - Cartography (2021-present)

Current research project

Christel, together with her Masters student Melandrie Smit, is currently working on using GISc to model energy expenditure along paths we, as humans, traverse. This is used in conjunction to modelling a path's distance, estimated time to walk along, and difficulty level. Her study site are the nature reserves of the City of Tshwane (CoT). For more on this project, please visit the project page here.

National & international involvement

• Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (Council member; South African representative: 2017-2019)
• Association of Polar Early Careers Scientists - South Africa (Chair: 2017-2019, Ex-officio: 2019-2021, NC member: 2017-2022)
• Southern African Association of Geomorphologists (President: 2019-2021, President-Elect: 2017-2019,  Council member: 2017-2021)
• South African Journal of Geomatics (Section editor: 2021-present)
• South African National Committee (SANC) to SCAR (Geosciences Standing Committee: 2019-present)
• Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information AGI) (South African representative: 2021-present)

Postgraduate students

• Boihang, L.M. 2020. Historical gully erosion growth in the Lower Thina Catchment, Eastern Cape. MSc. Supervisor: Hansen, C.D. Co-supervisor: Anderson, R.
• Mahamba, N. 2022. Developing a hydropower atlas for South Africa. MSc. Supervisor: Hansen, C.D.
• Mapuru. M.J. 2022. Understanding the two-way interactions between aardvark (Orycteropus afer) burrowing and the surrounding landscape characteristics at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa. MSc. Supervisor: Haussmann, N. Co-supervisor: Hansen, C.D.
• Sadiki, M.M. 2022. Predicting mire distribution using species distribution models (SDMs) and GISc: a case study of the Prince Edward Islands (PEIs). MSc. Supervisor: Hansen, C.D. Co-supervisor: Greve, M.
• Savy, J.D. 2023. MSc. Using free resources for the creation of digital elevation and geographic data: the case study of Rodrigues Island. MSc. Supervisor: Hansen, C.D. Co-supervisor: Munghemezulu, C.

Current postgraduate students

• Goso, L. Using geospatial information systems to type river ecosystems in the SADC. Main supervisors: Heidi van Deventer, Co-supervisor: Lindie Smith-Adao, co-supervisor: Christel Hansen. MSc.
• Ndlovu, N. TBC. Main supervisor: Heidi van Deventer. Co-supervisor: Christel Hansen. MSc.
• Sadiki, M.M. Title to be decided. Main supervisor: Heidi van Deventer, Co-supervisor: Christel Hansen. PhD.
• Simelane, S. Evaluating urban expansion and land use change in Mbabane, Eswatini, from 1997 to 2017 by using Landsat imagery. PhD.
• Smit, M. Using GISc for energy expenditure modelling in human health, well-being, and a well-informed public. MSc

Research publications (journals)

CV | Scopus H-index | Research Gate | Google Scholar H-Index | ORCID ID 

• Bekker, A., van Dijk, M., Niebuhr, C.M., Hansen, C.D., 2021. Framework development for the evaluation of conduit hydropower within water distribution systems: A South African case study. Journal of Cleaner Production. 283: 10 February 2021, 125326. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125326
• Nel, W., Boelhouwers, J.C., Borg, C.-J., Cotrina, J.H., Hansen, C.D., Haussmann, N.S., Hedding, D.W., Nguna, A.A., Meiklejohn, K.I., Rudolph, E.M., Sinuka, S.S., Sumner, P.D. 2021. Earth science research on Marion Island (1996-2020): A synthesis and new findings. South African Geographical Journal. 103(1): 22-42. DOI: 10.1080/03736245.2020.1786445
• Simelane, S.P., Hansen, C.D., Munghemezulu, C., 2021. The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS for Land Use and Land Cover Mapping in Eswatini: A Review. South African Journal of Geomatics, 10(2): 181-206. DOI: 10.4314/sajg.v10i2.13
• Hedding, D.W., Erofeev, A.A., Hansen, C.D., Khon, A.V., Abbasov, Z.R. 2020. Geomorphological processes and landforms of glacier forelands in the upper Aktru River basin (Gornyi Altai), Russia: evidence for rapid recent retreat and paraglacial adjustment. Journal of Mountain Science. 17 (4): 824-837. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-019-5845-5.
• Rudolph, E.M., Meiklejohn, K.I., Hansen, C.D., Hedding, D.W., Nel, W. 2018. Rock glaciers in the Jutulsessen, Dronning Maud Land, East  Antarctica. Polish Polar Research, 39 (1), 1-17. DOI: 10.24425/118736
• Hedding D.W., Hansen C.D., Nel W., Loubser M.J., Le Roux J.J., Meiklejohn K.I. (2016). Rock mass loss on a nunatak in Western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 48 (1), 1-8. DOI: 10.1657/AAAR0015-005
• Hansen C.D., Meiklejohn K.I., Nel W, Loubser M.J., van der Merwe B.J. (2013). Aspect-controlled weathering observed on a blockfield in Dronning Maud land, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler Series A: Physical Geography, 95, 305-313. DOI: 10.1111/geoa.12025

Other publications (book chapters, research reports, theses, popular articles)

• Mapuru, J.M., Hansen, C.D., Haussmann, N.S. (2022).  Exploring determinants of aardvark burrow locations at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa, In: Proceedings of the 2021 Joint Biennial Conference of the Society of South African Geographers and the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists, eISBN 978‐0‐6397‐1052‐5.
• Wege, M., Erasmus, B., Hansen, C.D., Vermeulen, E., Roberts, J., Purdon, J., Somers, M.J. Planned seismic survey by Shell has kicked up a storm in South Africa. Here’s an explainer, The Conversation. 9 December 2021. Available at https://theconversation.com/planned-seismic-survey-by-shell-has-kicked-up-a-storm-in-south-africa-heres-an-explainer-173280
• INTERACT (2021). INTERACT Fieldwork Communication and Navigation. Eds.: Schneider, A. et al. DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Denmark, 80 p. ISBN: 978-87-93129-66-1 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4692556  
• Elvevold, S., Engvik, A.K., Hansen, C., Jacobs, J., Meiklejohn I., Myhre, P.I.. Rudolph, E. (2021). Geological map of Jutulsessen 1:50 000. Norsk Polarinstitutt Temakart nr. 54.
• Hansen, C.D. (2018). On high-altitude and –latitude diurnal frost environments. Unpublished PhD thesis. Rhodes University (Grahamstown).
• Hansen, C.D. (2014). The characterisation of an openwork block deposit, Northern Buttress, Vesleskarvet, Western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Unpublished MSc dissertation. Rhodes University (Grahamstown).

Conference presentations (international)