Dr. Adrien Favillier
I am a dendrochronologist interested in the impact of climate warming on mass movement events, in particular snow avalanches, debris flows and flash floods, using palaeoproxies. My most recent collaborations focus on the dendrogeomorphological reconstructions of the activity of: (1) flash floods in the Mediterranean: Corsica and the Alpes Maritimes; (2) debris flows in the Alps, particularly in the Swiss National Park and the Valais Alps. The aim of this research is to identify the preparatory factors and triggers of these events, as well as their temporal evolution in relation to climate change.
I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geography in 2012 and a Master’s degree in Physical Geography in 2014 from the Institute of Alpine Geography in Grenoble. I obtained my PhD in Physical Geography at the University of Clermont Auvergne in 2019. My doctoral thesis focused on the impact of climate change on avalanche activity in the Alps.
I am currently Junior Lecturer at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Geneva.
Research interests
- Dendrogeomorphology: Tree-ring based reconstructions of avalanche, debris flows and flash flood events; regional reconstruction of mass movement activity
- Dendroclimatology: De-trending, tree-ring-based climate reconstructions
Selected publications
- Qie J., Corona C., Favillier A., Gubler S., Estermann T., Sotffel M. (2025). Hydrometeorological triggers of debris flows derived from historical archives and tree-ring data: Insights from the Swiss National Park. Science of the Total Environment 968, 178880. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178880 ⟨unige:183637⟩
- Zhong Y., Guillet S., Corona C., Favillier A., Ballesteros-Cánovas J.A., Huneau F., Qie J., Stoffel M. (2024). Quantifying the influence of Mediterranean cyclones on floods. Communication Earth & Environment 5, 711. doi : 10.1038/s43247-024-01836-3 ⟨unige:181588⟩
- Qie J., Favillier A., F., Liébault, Ballesteros-Cánovas J.A., Lopez-Saez J., Guillet S., Francon L., Zhong Y., Stoffel M., Corona C. (2024). Supply-limited torrents do not feel the heat of climate change. Nature Communications 15 (1), 9078. doi : 10.1038/s41467-024-53316-z ⟨unige:181216⟩
- Favillier A., Guillet S., Lopez-Saez J., Giacona F., Eckert N., Zenhäusern G., Peiry J.-L., Stoffel M., Corona C. (2023). Identifying and interpreting a regional signal in tree-ring based reconstruction of snow avalanche activity: lessons from the Goms valley (Swiss Alps). Quaternary Science Reviews 307, 10863. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108063 ⟨unige:168079⟩
- Zhong Y., Favillier A., Ballesteros-Cánovas J.A., Qie J., Muñoz-Torrero Manchado A., Guillet S., Huneau F., Corona C., Stoffel M. (2023). 250 Years of Flash Flood Frequency and Discharge in an Ungauged Corsican Mountain Catchment: A Dendrogeomorphic Reconstruction. Science of the Total Environment 879, 163138. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163138 ⟨unige:168078⟩
- Mainieri R., Favillier A., Lopez-Saez J., Eckert N., Zgheib T., Morel P., Saulnier M., Peiry J.-L., Stoffel M., Corona C. (2020). Impacts of land-cover changes on snow avalanche activity in the French Alps. Anthropocene 30, 100244. doi: 10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100244 ⟨hal-03129895⟩
- Corona C., Lopez-Saez J., Favillier A., Mainieri R., Eckert N., Trappmann D., Stoffel M., Bourrier F., Berger F. (2016). Modeling rockfall frequency and bounce height from three-dimensional simulation process models and growth disturbances in submontane broadleaved trees. Geomorphology, 281, 66–77. doi: 1016/j.geomorph.2016.12.019 ⟨hal-04396455⟩