Philip

Understanding when and where rain and snow fall in Asian mountain regions like the Himalaya is one of the biggest scientific challenges. This precipitation is vital for millions of people but also causes dangerous floods and landslides. Because the mountains are so complex and measurements are limited, it’s hard to […]

From 14–18 September 2025 the International Mountain Conference (IMC) was held in Innsbruck, Austria, with over 1,000 scientists and 150+ sessions. The Mountain Hydrology Group attended with a 12-person delegation (nine members, three collaborators), contributing posters, talks and convened sessions on snow, glaciers, vegetation, drought, atmospheric modelling, precipitation dynamics and […]

Himalayan glaciers are often covered with rock debris that affect their surface melt, which indirectly has effects on how climate change impacts on these glaciers impact future water resources. A recent study led by Philip focused on understanding these melt processes by examining surface changes in two glaciers in the […]

Varya Bazilova has published the first paper of her PhD in a collaboration between Mountain Hydrology and dr. Tjalling de Haas. In the study, she used machine learning to assess debris flow and flood hazards on 1,793 alluvial fans across High Mountain Asia. The results highlight how catchment shape, especially […]

Portait of Faezeh Nick in the documentary series about female scientists at the Department of Physical Geography of Utrecht University.

All team members of the Mountain Hydrology Group that go on regular mountain fieldwork have been on a three-day mountain and medical training in Chamonix, France, on the flanks of the Mont Blanc. The first one an a half day were spent in the classroom. There we significantly enhanced our […]

The mountain ranges of Asia are the world’s most important water towers, often referred to as the planet’s Third Pole. Precipitation in these mountains feeds glaciers, snow fields and rivers. Extreme precipitation also triggers floods, landslides and avalanches, which cause enormous human and economic losses. However, we do not know […]