Walter Bertoldi

2005: on-line master  “Cooperación internacional: Tecnologías para el Desarrollo Humano” (Ingenieria Sin Fronteras e Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Espana)

2004: PhD in “Environmental Engineering” at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Trento
Thesis title: “River Bifurcations”
Supervisor: prof. Marco Tubino

2000: 5-year level degree in “Environmental and Landscape Engineering”, at the University of Trento, Faculty of Engineering, graduation 110/110
Supervisor: prof. Marco Tubino
Thesis title: “On the formation of braided rivers: experimental observations. Part one: plani-altimetric evolution”

1994: High school certificate at the “Liceo Scientifico B. Russell”, Cles (TN)

April 2018 - present: Associate Professor in Geomorphology and Physical Geography Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento

January 2011 - March 2018: Assistant Professor in Geomorphology and Physical Geography Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento

September 2009 - December 2010: Research Associate in Physical Geography in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, working on the project “BIOGEOMORPHOLOGY OF RIPARIAN SYSTEMS: SPACE, TIME AND NEW INFORMATION SOURCES” founded by The Leverhulme Trust (PI prof. A.M. Gurnell).

August 2006 - August 2009: Research Associate in Fluvial Geomorphology at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Trento.

July 2004 – July 2006: Research grant: “Morphodynamics of braided streams – analytical, experimental and filed analysis of the morphology and plani.altimetric evolution of braided networks” at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Trento.

July - October 2003: “Visiting scientist” at the Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario (London, Canada).
Supervisor: prof. P.E. Ashmore
Participation at the international field campaign on the Sunwapta River (Canada).

TEACHING  

BSc and MSc courses:

2023 - present: Ecohydraulics (MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2011 - present: Geology (BSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2015 - present: Hydrodynamics (MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2018 - present: Introduction to meteorology and climatology (MSc Environmental Meteorology, University of Trento)
2022 - present: Water and sediment management for sustainable development MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2005 - 2022: Fluvial Morphology and Ecology (MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2013 - 2014: Hydrogeomorphology: river and floodplain appraisal and management (MSc School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London).
2001 - 2006: Hydrodynamics (MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)
2000 - 2002: Hydraulic Protection (MSc Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento)

PhD courses:
2014 - present: Morphodynamics of river bars: integrating theories, modelling, and observations (PhD in Environmental Engineering, University of Trento)
2021 - present: Aquatic ecosystems in natural and human impacted environments (Agrifood and Environmental Sciences)
2019: Processi formativi archeologici in ambiente montano (PhD in Culture d'Europa. Ambiente, spazi, storie, arti, idee, University of Trento)
2016: Summer School on Fluvial Geomorphology (Losone, Switzerland, ETH-EPFL)
2016: Winter School on Granular Flows (University of Trento)

STUDENTS SUPERVISION    

Supervision of PhD students

2004 - 2008: Zanoni L., Field and laboratory evidence of large scale dynamics in braided rivers, co-supervisor (University of Trento)
2009 - 2013: Welber M., Morphodynamics and driftwood dispersal in braided rivers, supervisor (University of Trento)
2011 - 2015: Garcia Lugo GA., Braided rivers: an exploratory study combining flume experiments and the analysis of remotely-sensed data, co-supervisor (Queen Mary University of London)
2013 - 2016: Adami L. co-supervisor (University of Trento)
2012 - 2017: Faller M., Impacts of signal crayfish burrowing on riverbank erosion in the River Thames catchment, co-supervisor (Queen Mary University of London)
2013 - 2017: Baral B., Modelling morphodynamics of braided rivers in unsteady flow regimes, co-supervisor (Queen Mary University of London)
2013 - 2017 : Trinci G., Spatial organisation of ecologically-relevant high order flow properties and implications for river habitat, co-supervisor (Queen Mary University of London)
2014 - 2017: Politti E., Investigating and modeling the interaction among vegetation, hydrodynamics and morphology main supervisor (University of Trento)
2016 - 2019: Brighenti S., Ecological shifts of stream ecosystems in deglaciating Alpine areas: the present and past conditions and future predictions, main supervisor (University of Trento)
2018 - 2022: Vallefuoco F., AdVAncing Tools for the Assessment of ecological flow in Rivers, co-supervisor (University of Trento)
2019 - present: Rossi D., InSAR data applied to the monitoring of event - scale morphodynamics of gravel bed rivers, co-supervisor (University of Trento)
2020 - present: Cunico I., River Ecomorphodynamic modelling, supervisor (University of Trento)
2021 - present: Pandrin E., Understanding sediment transport processes for improving river management (University of Trento)
2022 - present: Tenci M.V., Formation, evolution and fate of new proglacial lakes in the deglaciating Alps (University of Trento)

2011 - present    Member of the Academic Board of the Erasmus Mundus European Joint Doctorate Programme SMART (Science for Management of Rivers and their Tidal Systems)
2019 - present    Member of the Academic Board of the Doctoral Programme in Agrifood and Environmental Sciences (University of Trento)
2015 - 2019    Member of the Academic Board of the Doctoral Programme in Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (University of Trento)
    
Supervision of MSc students
        
2012 - present    Supervision and co-supervision of 46 students (3 ongoing) for their final thesis project (MSc in Environmental and Land Engineering, University of Trento). Co-supervision of 1 student of the Single cycle Master's Course Building Engineering/Architecture. Co-supervision of 1 incoming international MSc student (ETH Zurich)

Supervision of post-doc researchers

2015 - 2017    Javernick L. MSCA - Individual Fellowship: RIVER-HMV - “Hydraulic-Morphology-Vegetation Interactions”. H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
2017 - 2019    Welber M., research project GLORI GLaciers-to-RIvers sediment transfer in Alpine basins (Autonomous Province Bolzano/Bozen)
2018 - 2019    Facchini M., research project GLORI GLaciers-to-RIvers sediment transfer in Alpine basins (Autonomous Province Bolzano/Bozen)

Walter Bertoldi’s research focuses on braided river geomorphology, with a particular interest in understanding linkages between flow, sediments and vegetation. In his research activity he focussed the attention on the identification of spatial and temporal scales that control braided rivers evolution, analysing and modelling sediment transport processes, bar formation and river bifurcation. He also investigated the role of vegetation in controlling river morphology, considering both riparian vegetation and large wood dispersal in braided rivers. The research is mainly based on laboratory modelling and field investigation, in relationship with mathematical and numerical modelling of fluvial processes. He used different remote sensing techniques, ranging from close range imagery, to lidar survey and satellite images. Preferential field site of his research in the last few years is the River Tagliamento (Italy) a morphologically intact system where river flows, sediment transport and riparian trees interact across a range of climatic and hydrological conditions in an essentially unmanaged setting.

Walter Bertoldi is engaged in a number of international collaborations with academic institutions. The main collaborations are with: prof. A. Gurnell, dr. G. Harvey, dr. A. Henshaw, prof G. Wharton (Queen Mary University of London, UK), prof. P. Ashmore (University of Western Ontario, Canada), dr. F. Holker (IGB, Germany), prof. K. Tockner (FUB, Germany), prof. N. Surian (University of Padova, Italy), prof. Y. Takemon (University of Kyoto, DPRI, Japan), prof. F. Comiti (Free University Bolzano/Bozen, Italy), dr. L Mao (University of Lincoln, UK), dr. Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva (University of Lausanne, Switzerland).

Member of the British Society for Geomorphology, the European Geophysical Union, the Associazione Italiana di Geomorfologia, and the Gruppo Italiano di Idraulica.

2019 Gordon Warwick Award for excellence in geomorphological research by someone within 15 years of being awarded their doctorate. Award presented by the British Society for Geomorphology.

2010 Wiley-Blackwell Award for the best paper in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms in 2010, in recognition of excellence for the paper “Planform dynamics of braided streams”. Award presented by the British Society for Geomorphology.

Invited speaker at:

2021 BSG Meeting “Impact of biotic components on system (non-) equilibrium morphology and dynamics”, Online Webinar, “The role of riparian vegetation” 

2020 Action COST CONVERGES Workshop Meeting "RIPARIAN VEGETATION RESPONSES TO GLOBAL CHANGES", 29-30 January 2020, Madrid (Spain)

2019 Warwick Award Lecture, BSG Annual Meeting, Sheffield (UK), “Physical modelling of river geomorphology: spatial and temporal variability”

2015 Gravel-bed Rivers 8, Kyoto & Takayama (Japan), "Physical and numerical modelling of wood and vegetation"

2014 5th Water Research Horizon Conference, Berlin (Germany), "Monitoring bio-geomorphological processes during flood events"

2014 18th Annual Meeting of Ecology and Civil Engineering Society, Tokyo (Japan), “Geomorphology, Vegetation and Hyporheic Flow interactions in the Tagliamento River, Italy”

2014 International Workshop "Towards the basin and integrated management of woody debris", Kyoto (Japan), “Wood storage and dynamics in large rivers: results from field observations and flume experiments”

2012 HYDRALAB General Meeting, Wallingford (UK), "The morphodynamic impacts of vegetation and large wood in fluvial systems”

2012 GESTRANS workshop, Grenoble (France), “The role of vegetation and large wood in braided rivers dynamics”

2011 International Workshop on Habitatology, Kyoto (Japan), “The topographic signature of vegetation development along a braided river”

2011 GeoItalia, Rimini (Italy), “Use of lidar data to quantify the role of riparian trees in shaping the morphology of braided rivers”

2011 AGU Fall Meeting 2011, San Francisco (US), "The topographic signature of vegetation development along a braided river”

2010 Wiley Lecture, BSG-RGS Annual Conference, London, UK, "Planform dynamics of braided rivers"

2010 AGU Fall Meeting 2010, San Francisco (US), "The contribution of vegetation to riverbed morphology "

Walter Bertoldi is referee for international journals (Water Resources Research, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Advances in Water Resources, Geomorphology, River Research and Application, Aquatic Sciences, Hydrological Processes, Ecohydrology, PLOS-ONE, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Journal of Hydraulic Research). He was Associate Editor of a special issue on River Research and Application (Volume 25, 2009) with contributions from the 2008 ECRR Conference in Venice; of a Special Issue on Earth Surface Processes and Landforms "Dynamic riverine landscapes: the role of ecosystem engineers" (Volume 40(12), 2015); and of a Special Issue on Geomorphology "Dynamics and ecology of wood in world rivers" (Volume 279, 2017).

He was member of the organizing committee and chairman of the Braided Rivers Worskshop (Die, June 2014) and was member of the Scientific committee of the "Wood in world rivers" Conference, Padova, July 2015.

Walter Bertoldi was awarded the National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in the Scientific Sectors 04/A3 (Applied Geology, Physical Geography and Geomorphology) and 08/A1 Hydraulics, Hydrology, Hydraulic and Marine Structures.

Updated on October 2022