Asfawossen ASRAT KASSAYE

Born in Mekele, Ethiopia on October 17, 1972, Dr. Asfawossen ASRAT KASSAYE is an Associate Professor of Isotope Geochemistry and Petrology at the School of Earth Sciences of Addis Ababa University (AAU). He received his PhD from the University of Henri Poincare, Nancy (France) in Geochemistry and Petrology in 2002. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK. He is actively engaged in teaching both at postgraduate (Geochemistry, Geo-environment, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoenvironment) and undergraduate (General Geology and Geomorphology, Petrology and Geochemistry, Geology for Engineers and Geotechniques, Field Geology Techniques and Practices, African and Ethiopian Geology) programs. He is actively engaged in both pure and applied research and has completed/is undertaking 16 research projects funded by different organizations in the USA, UK, Germany and Ethiopia; has authored 35 peer-reviewed publications in various fields including Paleoclimatology-Paleoenvironment, Igneous Petrology-Isotope Geochemistry, Geoarchaeology-Geoheritages-Geotourism, and Geotechniques-Geomorphology, in high impact journals including Nature, Journal of Petrology, Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, Journal of Quaternary Sciences, Quaternary International, The Holocene, and Journal of African Earth Sciences. He has also authored 2 text-books, and one popular book entitled “Geotourism in Ethiopia”. He has supervised 40 Masters Theses projects in AAU and 5 others in the UK and Germany. He is currently supervising 4 PhD students in Ethiopia (AAU, and Jima University), and in Germany. He is actively engaged in professional activities as a member and leader of many national and international professional associations, and is currently serving as the Vice President of the Geological Society of Africa; he is co-opted member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG); he is also a founding member and current President of the Eastern Africa Quaternary Research Association (EAQUA). He is a Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, and a Young Affiliate of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). In addition to his active teaching, research, professional, community and outreach services, he has served the AAU in various academic administration positions including as Academic Programs Officer (2004-2006), Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs (2006-2008), and Chief Academic Officer for Research (2011-2012). He is fluent in Tigrigna, Amharic, English and French.