Karel Šilhán appointed Professor of Environmental Geography

"For me, obtaining a professorship means a reward for many years of hard work when I usually did not know what day of the week it was. I really appreciate this award for my scientific and pedagogical activities and I am priviledged to carry out the responsibility.  At the same time, being a student I never thought I could reach such a degree. It is also very encouraging for me to know that hard work and effort can lead to reaching greatest goals," Professor Šilhán reflects on his current scientific career.

 

Karel Šilhán studied Physical Geography and Geoecology at the University of Ostrava where he subsequently obtained a doctoral degree in Environmental Geography. He defended his habilitation thesis at the Comenius University in Bratislava in the field of Physical Geography and Geoecology. The thesis focuses on physical geography and geomorphology. However, he considers the scientific field of dendrogeomorphology that analyses slope movements through tree rings to be crucial for his career.

This field of science practically had not existed in our country until then. The first steps can be described as very clumsy and, looking back, even comical. However, I was lucky to have great and important support from my older colleagues.

Working with my students is another important part of the work. We gradually got an insight into the secrets of tree annual rings. The result of all that work is success for the Czech Republic being currently the first in the world in presenting dendrogeomorphological results.

Karel Šilhán

about his research

Professor Šilhán works at the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Králové and at the Department of Physical Geography at the Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava. He is also a member of the European Geoscience Union, the American Geophysical Union, and the Czech Association of Geomorphologists. He participated in 9 GACR Projects, 3 of which were led by him as the main researcher. The results of one of these projects, Old Landslides: Truly Inactive, were published in a magazine Landslides (impact factor 6.58), which ranks first in the "engineering, geological" category on the Web of Science.

 "The minimum goal for the future is to maintain the set scientific standard. In my field, I still see space that I will try to fulfill, and thus contribute to the research of natural hazards and disasters in terms of their development in the past. In the future, supra-regional to continental reconstructions of various types of slope processes, such as landslides or rock falls, are a great challenge for me meet and take on," concludes the newly appointed professor Karel Šilhán with a view to the future.