MB
Member Since 2012
Mette Bendixen
Assistant Professor, McGill University
www.mettebendixen.com
Professional Experience
McGill University
Assistant Professor
2021 - Present
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Research Fellow
2018 - 2021
Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research
Post doc
2018 - 2018
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Education
University of Copenhagen
Doctorate
2017
Honors & Awards
Science for Solutions Award
Received December 2020
Mette Bendixen was awarded the 2020 Science for Solutions Award at the virtual AGU Fall Meeting in December. The award is for “significant contributions in the application and use of the Earth and space sciences to solve societal problems.”
Mette Bendixen was awarded the 2020 Science for Solutions Award at the virtual AGU Fall Meeting in December. The award is for “significant contributions in the application and use of the Earth and space sciences to solve societal problems.”
Citation
For outstanding
contributions that set a new agenda to solve a pressing societal challenge—the
scarcity of sand resources.
Dr.
Bendixen has worked on coastal processes in the Arctic region and, using unique
archival imagery and remote sensing data, showed how Greenlandic deltas are now
growing more rapidly than earlier in the 20th century. She innovatively applied
statistical techniques to quantify the impact of major controlling physical
factors such as the melting Greenland ice sheet. She published her findings in Nature
(Bendixen et al., Nature, 55, 101–104, 2017). It turned out that
with a rapidly melting ice sheet Greenland’s deltas receive a large and steady
supply of sand.
Dr.
Bendixen realized, in a pivot from her initial interests in just the physical
system, that if sediment loads to Greenland deltas are indeed so large, could
they be a part of the solution to the global sand scarcity problem? She
published this idea first in a commentary for Science, bringing together
the new knowledge of the enormous sediment load originating from Greenland and
the fact that sand is becoming a sparse resource globally. The world needs sand
for infrastructure, housing, road bases, and coastal defense but has been
running out of this most basic resource. Mette’s paper demonstrated her ability
to relate her geomorphologically based research to societally relevant
solutions and innovations. This was a highly original idea with an implication
for Greenland to potentially make use of the sand accumulating at their
coastlines for export. The initial idea was further developed by putting the
shear sand volumes into a context of modeled future economic value and scarcity
of sand.
Moreover,
in her current work, Dr. Bendixen is building collaborations between research,
industry, and policymakers to work toward defining a sustainable future for
sand. She now collaborates on research on sand scarcity and is seeking
information from Greenland’s citizens directly through surveys. Her research
agenda further broadened and also investigates sand mining in Africa—perhaps
one of the most understudied continents in the sense of river sediment fluxes
and, consequently, sand resources. Providing these insights in the rate of
mining and resource extraction will be vital information for regulation and
sustainable use.
Congratulation, Mette,
for a well-deserved recognition of your creativity and persistence to bring
your interdisciplinary science to contribute solutions to societal challenges!
—Irina Overeem,
University of Colorado Boulder
Response
I am exceptionally
honored to receive the AGU Science for Solutions Award for my work on global
sand scarcity and potential solutions to solve the growing demand. I am deeply
grateful for the nomination and want to thank my colleague and nominator,
Associate Professor Irina Overeem, for being supportive and enthusiastic about
my work and my colleagues for supporting this nomination. Specifically, I am
deeply thankful to my doctoral adviser, Professor Aart Kroon, for having
trained me to think holistically and critically about my research and for
supporting my curiosity throughout my academic career.
With a background in
physical geography and geomorphology, I have come to appreciate the growing
interdependence and linkages between geosciences and human activities and how
these links are increasingly adding challenges to our environment and society.
Being open to cross-disciplinary collaborations and not being afraid to ask
sometimes even basic questions are fundamental when trying to solve these
global challenges. Receiving the Science for Solutions Award makes me
exceptionally proud, and I am confident that I could not have advanced my work
to this point if I hadn’t had the opportunity to work with and receive support
and guidance from a broad set of researchers and colleagues, indeed also from
outside the academic community.
In a time when global
challenges are rising, I believe it’s extremely important we are tackling these
challenges across disciplines and through an integrative and interdisciplinary
approach. I trust that this can only be done through respect for, with inclusion
of, and in collaboration with Indigenous communities.
I want to also take the
opportunity to thank AGU for supporting early-career researchers and Peter Schlosser
for establishing the Science for Solutions Award. Finally, I would like to
thank the Carlsberg Foundation for their support of my work.—Mette
Bendixen, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen,
Denmark
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Publications
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Sedimentary Coastal Cliff Erosion in Greenland
Climate change will increase the duration of annual sea‐ice‐free periods and shift precipitation patterns across the Arctic. Those fact...
April 25, 2023
AGU Abstracts
Advancements in Understanding Hydrogeomorphological Impacts of Artisanal Aggregate Mining on Northern Rwandan Rivers
IMPACTS OF MINERAL EXTRACTION AND ARTISANAL MINING ON SOCIETIES AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS I POSTER
science and society | 15 december 2023
Nicolas Dos Santos, Mette Bendixen, Iversen Lars L...
Erosion processes such as hydraulic action, compression, abrasion, and attrition are key determinants of the morpholodynamics of a river system. Natur...
View Abstract
Mapping Sand Mining from Space: Using Satellite Imagery, Citizen Science Resources, and Spatial Occupancy Models to Map and Understand Sand Mining Activity in Africa
MULTISECTOR DYNAMICS: SCIENCE AND MODELING FOR SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION II POSTER
global environmental change | 13 december 2023
Nakiya Noorbhai, Mette Bendixen, Iversen Lars Lons...
Sand and gravel are essential constituents of concrete and asphalt used to build housing, roads, and other vital infrastructure. This has made sand th...
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Application of deep learning on localizing sand exploitation at the national level and tracking its effects locally in Rwanda
APPLICATIONS OF MACHINE LEARNING AND DEEP LEARNING TO ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS II ORAL
global environmental change | 12 december 2023
ke huang, Mette Bendixen, Maurice Mugabowindekwe, ...
Africa is the fastest urbanising region over the world, which has led to a rise in the demand for cement-based products creating an urgent need for sa...
View Abstract
Volunteer Experience
2023 - 2024
Member
Cryosphere Nye and Early Career Award Committee
Check out all of Mette Bendixen’s AGU Research!
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