Rhyner, Prof. Jakob

Prof. Dr Jakob Rhyner joined the United Nations University in 2010. He holds a PhD and diploma in theoretical physics from ETH Zurich . He is a member of the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Bonn. He has been active in numerous professional organizations and boards, such as the Fachleute Naturgefahren Schweiz (Experts Natural Hazards Switzerland), the Group of European Avalanche Warning Services, and research project evaluation boards of the European Commission.

He has various international experiences, including as a guest scientist at L.D. Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics in Moscow, Former Soviet Union (1986), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1990-91). From 1988 until 2001, he was active in industrial research (energy technology).

From 2001 on, he served as Head of the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos, Switzerland, and its Research Unit Warning and Prevention. He also acted as a member of the Directorial Board of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape WSL, to which SLF belongs. At WSL/SLF, he has been involved in the area of natural hazards safety and risk management .