Prof. Dr. Ingmar Unkel
Professor of Physical Geography of the Anthropocene, HCE member since 2026
I am highly interested in the so far relatively unexplored field of archaeohydrology, which emphasizes the relevance of water availability in the evolution of our human society by investigating the relation between water resources, the natural hydrological and ecological conditions, and the socio-cultural development of humans in the past
My current research projects in Greece, Vietnam, and Austria focus on the following key questions:
- How vulnerable is the surface water system of the study area(s) to changes in the hydro-climate on different temporal scales? What is the impact of these changes on sedimentation, transport and erosion processes in the mountainous areas? This question includes changes in precipitation and decadal to millennial scales.
- How resilient are natural vegetation, sediments, soils, and human societies in past and pre-sent times to hydroclimatic changes. This question includes the assessment of rates of forcing and related response times.
My research focus could be summarized under as "Understanding the Past – Addressing the Present – Preparing for the Future".
Why I joined the HCE
Both the HCE and the Marsilius College—where I had the privilege of serving as a fellow in 2024–25—offer an excellent environment for interdisciplinary exchange, communication, and collaboration at Heidelberg University. While the Marsilius College strongly promotes exchange between the humanities and the natural sciences, I have found a “scholarly home” at the HCE that optimally supports my own research—which is already highly interdisciplinary—in the field of human-environment interaction.
My highlights so far
Since I’ve only been a truly active member of the HCE community for a very short time (April 2026), I don’t have too many highlights to share yet. Nevertheless, the annual retreat was already a real highlight for me, as it gave me the chance to get to know my colleagues on a more personal level—beyond the intense academic and research strategy discussions in the seminar room—during hikes and other social leisure activities. After all, especially when there are professional differences in interdisciplinary collaboration, it is important to recognize and appreciate the social common ground with colleagues in order to work together successfully and without major conflicts.
My key partners
Like most people at the HCE, I collaborate with researchers from a wide range of disciplines—primarily with archaeologists and historians, but also with environmental scientists and geophysicists. And even within my immediate academic field, I work closely with colleagues in geoinformatics and the geosciences. But even outside Heidelberg University and Germany, I have an extensive network of collaboration partners in various countries, most notably in Vietnam, Greece, Austria, Sweden, and Finland, to name just a few.