+386 1 470 63 58
mateja.ferk@zrc-sazu.si
Dr Mateja Ferk is a geomorphologist and researcher at the Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) in Ljubljana. She obtained her degree in Geography and later a PhD in Physical Geography from the University of Ljubljana. Her research focuses primarily on karst geomorphology and the development of karst landforms.
Her work addresses the origin and evolution of karst depressions, denuded caves and other surface and subsurface karst features. She combines geomorphological mapping, sedimentological analyses and geophysical methods to reconstruct the evolution of karst landscapes and Quaternary environmental change.
The research of Dr Mateja Ferk focuses on karst geomorphology and the evolution of karst landscapes, with particular emphasis on the transition between subsurface cave features and surface karst landforms. Her studies address processes of speleogenesis, the formation of collapse dolines and unroofed caves, as well as the development of solution pipes. A significant part of her work investigates sediments in karst depressions as potential palaeoenvironmental archives that enable the reconstruction of hydrological and environmental changes during the Quaternary.
Her research integrates field-based geomorphological mapping, geophysical investigations (especially electrical resistivity tomography), sedimentological analyses and geochronological approaches. She actively participates in national and international research projects and contributes to the development of interdisciplinary approaches to karst studies. Her work aims to improve the understanding of karst landform evolution and their significance for reconstructing past environmental conditions. Future research will particularly focus on karst depressions as palaeoenvironmental archives and on comparative studies of karst processes in different geological and climatic settings.
Education
B.Sc. in Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2009
Ph.D. in Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2014
Selected presentations and lectures
- Remote sensing in geomorphology : examples from Australia. Invited lecture at the Institut für Geographie und Raumforschung, University of Graz, Graz, Avstria, 12. 6. 2019
- Karst and Caves in Slovenia. Invited lecture at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States of America, 24. 8. 2018
- Contact karst as sediment sink. Oral presentation at the COST project conference The Hydrological and Erosional Cycles in Karstic Terrains at the University of Omalos, Chania, Greece, 15. 3. 2018
- Palaeohydrological Parameters on the Nullarbor Plain in Australia. Oral presentation at the conference Long Term environmental changes, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 11. 5. 2017
- Cave sediments as a paleoflood proxy. Oral presentation at the 5th International Paleoflood Conference, Rapid City, South Dakota, United States of America, 20. 9. 2016
- Recent behaviour of Slovenian glaciers. Poster presentation at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 2. 5. 2014
- The impact of present climate fluctuations on the Triglav Glacier, Slovenian Julian Alps. Lecture at the International Scientific Seminar: Global change impact on high mountains in Central and Southeastern Europe, Sofija, Bulgaria, 1. 7. 2014
- Palaeofloods on Karst Poljes, Slovenia. Invited lecture at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 15. 2. 2012
- Holocene palaeofloods on the Planina Karst Polje, Classical Dinaric Karst, Slovenia. – Oral presentation at the 18. INQUA Congress, Bern, Switzerland, 19.–28. 7. 2011
- Ferk, M., Lipar, M., Šmuc, A., Parise, M., Ciglič, R., Cof, K., Miklavc, P., Stepišnik, U. 2025: Detection of fossilised solution pipes and their hydrological function using electrical resistivity tomography in Apulia, Italy. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 50.
- Lipar, M., Barham, M., Danišík, M., Šmuc, A., Webb, J., McNamara, K. J., Šoster, A., Ferk, M. 2024: Ironing out complexities in karst chronology: (U-Th)/He ferricrete ages reveal wet MIS 5c. Science Advances 10.
- Gökkaya, E., Gutiérrez, F., Ferk, M., Görüm, T. 2021: Sinkhole development in the Sivas gypsum karst, Turkey. Geomorphology 386.
- Ferk, M., Ciglič, R., Komac, B., Loczy, D. 2020: Management of small retention ponds and their impact on flood hazard prevention in the Slovenske Gorice Hills. Acta geographica Slovenica 60-1.
- Burnett, S., Lipar, M., Ferk, M., et al. 2020: Etched linear dunefields of the Nullarbor Plain: a record of Pliocene-Pleistocene wind patterns across southern Australia. Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology 557.
- Ferk, M., Lipar, M., Šmuc, A., Drysdale, R. N., Zhao, J. 2019: Chronology of heterogeneous deposits in the side entrance of Postojna Cave, Slovenia. Acta geographica Slovenica 59-1.
- Lipar, M., Stepišnik, U., Ferk, M. 2019: Multiphase breakdown sequence of collapse doline morphogenesis : an example from Quaternary aeolianites in Western Australia. Geomorphology 327.
- Ferk, M. 2016: Paleopoplave v porečju kraške Ljubljanice. Geografija Slovenije 33.
- Ferk, M., Gabrovec, M., Komac, B., Zorn, M., Stepišnik, U. 2017: Pleistocene glaciation in Mediterranean Slovenia. Special publication of the Geological Society of London 433.
- Lipar, M., Ferk, M. 2015: Karst pocket valleys and their implications on Pliocene-Quaternary hydrology and climate : examples from the Nullarbor Plain, southern Australia. Earth-Science Reviews 150.
- The Soil Science and Archaeo-Geophysics Alliance: going beyond prospection (international project • April 1, 2018 - December 31, 2021)
- Karst artefacts of the remote northern part of the Nullarbor Plain (research project • November 6, 2017 - November 5, 2023)
- Novel proxies of the Holocene climate variability in stalagmites in Slovenia (fundamental research project • September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2023)
- Solution pipes as a novel palaeoclimate proxy (fundamental research project • November 1, 2021 - October 31, 2023)
- Geography of Slovenia - national research programme (research programme • January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2027)
- Supporting Holocene Climate Reconstruction with High-Resolution Cryospheric Proxies from the Karst Ice Caves of Slovenia (fundamental research project • October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2026)
- Denuded caves of the Nullarbor Plain (fundamental project • October 1, 2023 - November 30, 2026)
- Ironing out complexities in karst chronology: the Quaternary aeolianite karst phenomenon (June 1, 2025 - May 31, 2028)
- The Life and Death of Cultivated Terraces: Computer-Based Recognition and Spatial Analysis of Terraces (applied research project • January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2027)
- The great Miocene barrier reef of southern Australia (March 1, 2026 - February 28, 2029)
- The Prešeren Award for a top-level Honours Degree thesis, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, 2010
- Award and Bronze Decoration at the Speleological Association of Slovenia for special achievements in speleology, 2011
- ZRC SAZU Silver Award for a top-level PhD, 2016
- ZRC SAZU Scholarship for research work at the Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 2012
- Silver Award for the supervision of a high school student at the Young Scientists Competition in Slovenia, 2018
- Award »Excellent trainee« at the International Training Course on Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology and Ecological Geology of Karst in Kunming, China, 2017
- member of the editorial board of the scientific journal Acta geographica Slovenica (2019-)
- member of the editorial board of book series Geografija Slovenije (2015-)
- member of the editorial board of book series Georitem (2015-)
- member of the Geomorphological Society of Slovenia; president 2016-2019, secretary 2011-2016