What is so fascinating about your research area?
The knowledge of the likely irretrievability of the impressions and the knowledge gained from them, the episodic nature of the observation possibilities and the associated eagerness to collect as much geoscientific data as possible in the field during the short time of an expedition gives the work of a high mountain geomorphologist its own style and forces him to apply creative solutions and his own working methods.
Which central message should your students remember?
Storytelling in the geosciences requires a certain level of maturity: you should understand the space-time continuum of the earth's history in such a way that you can let a story spanning thousands or millions of years play out like a film and thus be able to argue in a way that is understandable not only to colleagues in the field but also to the general public.
Why did you decide to do research and teach at our Faculty?
I have been working closely with the University of Vienna for 15 years now, through geoscientific excursions that are carried out every year in cooperation with my department at the Kammerhof Museum in Gmunden. This gave me the opportunity to also work as a lecturer at the Department of Geography and Regional Research. The ENGAGE working group - Geomorphological Systems and Risk Research - is very closely related to my research focus.
Which three publications characterise your work?
- WEIDINGER J.T., KORUP O., H. MUNACK, U. ALTENBERGER, S. DUNNING, G. TIPPELT & W. LOTTERMOSER 2014. Giant Rockslides from the inside. Earth and Planetary Science Letters EPSL, 389, 62-73.
- WEIDINGER J. T., NIESNER E., MILLAHN K. 2011. Chronicle of an Earthflow foretold – the 2008 Gschliefgraben event, Austria. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 55, Suppl. 3, 375-407, Stuttgart.
- WEIDINGER J.T., SCHRAMM J.-M., NUSCHEJ F. 2002. Ore Mineralization Causing Slope Failure in a High-Altitude Mountain Crest — On the Collapse of an 8000 m Peak in Nepal. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21, 295-306, Kidlington, Oxford.
Thank you & welcome to our Faculty!
About the Person
- Mag. Dr. Johannes Thomas Weidinger has been director of the Kammerhof Museum in Gmunden since 2019. There he occupies an important mediating position between international science, local research and the transfer of knowledge in the form of publications and exhibitions on geoscientific topics.
He is a specialist in mass movements in Asian high mountains with particular emphasis on the Himalayas, which is reflected in numerous projects and publications in specialist journals. Weidinger has also made a name for himself by working on the Gschliefgraben landslide and by organizing several specialist conferences and publishing books on this topic. - Department and host: Department of Geography and Regional Research / Working group ENGAGE - Geomorphological Systems and Risk Research
- Courses in the summer term 2025:
- Kammerhof Museum Gmunden
- Naturschauspiel - Johannes Weidinger
