Valérie Morel

Valérie Morel is a Lecturer in Geography at the University of Artois, where she has been teaching since 1998. She is affiliated with the Faculty of History Geography Heritage and specializes in coastal and river margin geography, environmental risks, and vulnerability/resilience studies. Her research is particularly focused on French Guiana and the Amazonian region, examining human-environment interactions and interdisciplinary approaches to territorial management.

Dr. Morel earned her PhD in Geography from the University of Western Brittany in 1997 with a dissertation titled "From geomorphology to the management of coastal pebble strips in the Channel basin and its surroundings: case studies (Brittany, Upper Normandy, Picardy, southern England) and general reflections." She also completed a delegation to the IRD center in Cayenne from 2008 to 2012 in the Mivegec laboratory.

Dr. Morel's research primarily focuses on the intersection of coastal and river margin territories with environmental risks, vulnerability, and resilience. Her work examines how human-environment interactions have evolved over centuries, with particular attention to the management of environmental risks in coastal areas. She emphasizes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to understanding environmental issues, especially in the context of French Guiana and Amazonian regions. Her research often addresses the social dimensions of environmental risks, highlighting the importance of integrating knowledge from multiple disciplinary fields for effective territorial management.

Her extensive publication record reveals consistent themes in coastal geography, environmental risk assessment, and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental management. The research shows a clear progression from studying physical coastal processes to examining the human dimensions of environmental risks, particularly in French Guiana. More recent work increasingly focuses on health-environment interactions, transborder cooperation, and the impacts of climate change on vulnerable coastal communities.

Dr. Morel has secured significant research funding for multiple projects, including ADAILI (2022-2024) on climate change adaptation, IMoLoCAY (2023-2024) on relocation due to coastal erosion in French Guiana, and MOSAIC (2024-2028) on planetary health with €5.9 million in funding. She has also participated in numerous collaborative research initiatives, demonstrating her ability to lead and contribute to interdisciplinary research teams addressing complex environmental challenges.

Dr. Morel is actively involved in several research networks and teams, including the GDR LiGA (Littoral de Guyane sous influence amazonienne), where she co-leads the vulnerability-adaptability axis facing climate change. She is also a member of the LMI Sentinela (2018-2024), a France-Brazil international laboratory focused on transborder environmental observatories, climate, and vector-borne diseases. These affiliations demonstrate her commitment to collaborative, interdisciplinary research addressing environmental challenges in Amazonian and coastal regions.