Jakob Steiner

Jakob Steiner is a PostDoc Fellow affiliated with the University of Graz (Austria) and the Himalayan University Consortium (hosted at ICIMOD in Kathmandu, Nepal), based in Islamabad, Pakistan and Genoa, Italy. His work spans high mountain hydrology, cryosphere studies, and risk assessment across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and Greenland.

His research focuses on high mountain hydrology, debris-covered glaciers, ice cliff dynamics, and transboundary risk frameworks. He emphasizes FAIR data principles, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and capacity building for early-career scientists in the Global South. Key projects include LATTICE (ice cliffs), HI-WISE (ICIMOD flagship report), HIRISK (mountain risk platform), and HIMASS (sediment budgets).

Steiner actively contributes to international working groups: IACS debris cover (lead of manual development), IACS/MRI snow cover, MRI TG 2.3 on socio-economic variables, INARCH/COPE snow network, RGI7.0, and Cryosphere and Society WG at HUC. His field expertise includes sensor technology deployment across the HKH and Greenland.

Advising & Grants

• Supervised 18+ MSc/PhD students across institutions in Pakistan, Austria, Nepal, Netherlands, and China
• Led sizeable research budgets for ICIMOD, Stimson Center, and hydrosolutions
• PI/Co-PI for FWF-funded LATTICE project (2023-2028) and HIRISK initiative (2023-2024)

Labs & Networks

• Leads x-hydrolab consultancy network for mountain risk analysis
• Co-founded REAMO initiative with Utrecht University and ICIMOD
• Maintains GitHub repositories for transparent methodology documentation