PhDinterview
-
#23 Lærke: From bio-waste to fertiliser
How can we transition from mineral to biobased fertilisers? Lærke Wester Larsen is a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen and part of the EU project LEX4BIO. Within LEX4BIO, scientists aim to optimise biobased fertilisers and to provide knowledge as basis for policies regarding the use of such fertilisers. Lærke looks at how well the biobased fertilisers work in the field, if there are environmental risks from using them and if they benefit the quality of the soil. Department & Group: Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences, Soil fertility group Supervisors: Lars Stoumann Jensen and Dorette Sophie Müller-Stöver Dissertation title (as for now :) Agronomic performance and environmental impact…
-
#18 Sarah: Greenhouse gas emissions from the Greenland Ice Sheet
Sarah Sapper is a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen studying methane and carbon dioxide emissions in meltwater from below the Greenland Ice Sheet. Department and group: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Supervisors: Jesper Riis Christiansen and Christian Juncher Jørgensen Dissertation title (as for now :D) Diurnal and seasonal dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions from subglacial meltwater of the Greenland Ice Sheet Some terms: Glacier: a body of ice moving down-slope due to gravity Warm glaciers: are very thick – the pressure of the overlying ice causes melting at the base of the glacier Cold glacier: thinner ice, the pressure of the ice doesn’t suffice to melt…
-
# 15 Hongzhen: Nitrogen use efficiencies of biobased fertilisers
Can nitrogen mineral fertilisers be replaced by processed and manure-derived biobased fertilisers? Hongzhen Luo (罗红祯) is a PhD fellow at Ghent University (UGent). She conducts research on biobased fertilisers derived from animal manure and on their ability to replace mineral fertilisers. With her research she aims to contribute to closing nutrient loops in agriculture. Department & Group: Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent university. Supervisors: Prof. Erik Meers and prof. Stefaan De Neve (Ghent University) Dissertation title: Interrelations between the nitrogen availability of biobased fertilizers and the dynamics of the plant-soil system Topic – in brief Laboratory and field experiments on biobased fertilisers derived from…
-
#13 Louise: Combating and valorising food waste
How can food waste be reduced and food production become more sustainable? Louise Bartek is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). She examines ways to combat food waste where possible and how to valorise it where necessary. Department & Group: Department of Energy and Technology Supervisors: Mattias Eriksson (main supervisor), Ingrid Strid, and Pedro Brancoli Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Environmental assessment of food waste recovery and valorisation of food by-products Topic – in brief Sustainable food systems and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) How can we produce more food from the resources we already have? And how can we decrease the environmental impacts of…
-
#10 Louis: Soil microbial responses to land use change
How do changes in land use and plant community affect the activity of soil microbes and their carbon use efficiency? Louis Dufour is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). He conducts field experiments to see how microbial communities in the soil respond to changes in plant communities in terms of their activity and carbon turn-over. Department & Group: Department of Soil and Environment, Group of Nutrient Cycling, SLU Supervisors: Anke M. Herrmann, Johanna Wetterlind, Martin Weih, Stefano Manzoni, Naoise Nunan Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Responses of microbial physiology to changes in land management: a bioenergetics approach Topic – in brief Testing whether changes…
-
#9 Catarina: Orchard manure fertilisation, vineyards and satellite images
How can manure replace mineral fertilisers in apple orchards and how can satellite images help improve vineyard fertilisation? Catarina Martins Esteves is a PhD student at the University of Lisbon and part of the EU Horizon 2020 project Nutri2Cycle. Department and Section: Instituto Superior de Agronomia University supervisors: Henrique Ribeiro, David Fangueiro and Ricardo Braga Dissertation title (as for now :D) “Valorisation of organic materials and composts for precision fertilisation of orchards and vineyards” Topic – in brief Assessing the impacts of manure fertilisation on apple orchards – in terms of emissions and apple yields. Catarina compares the effects of mineral and manure fertilisation to provide farmers with recommendations on…
-
#7 Nelly: Phosphorous fertilisation, plant-availability and use-efficiency
Nelly is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen. She conducts research on organic and mineral forms of phosphorus fertiliser. She explores its plant-availability and models its fate in the soil to optimise its application. Institute: Department of Geoscience and Natural Ressource Management – Geography Nelly did her PhD at the University of Copenhagen, then went to Australia to do a first postdoc and now returned to Denmark to do a second postdoc. Let’s start with her PhD research Dissertation title: (link) Potential for increasing phosphorus bioavailability of thermally treated sewage sludge using phosphate solubilising fungi Methodology In vitro lab-experiments with different combinations of ashes derived from wastewater sludge…
-
#8 Max: Modelling climate impacts of forest management and wood use scenarios
(How) can forestry and wood-products contribute to climate change mitigation? Max is a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) and he conducts research on forest management and wood use scenarios with regards to greenhouse gas dynamics with a focus on Sweden. Department & Group: Department of Energy and Technology Supervisors: Per-Anders Hansson, Ragnar Jonsson, Johan Stendahl, & Torun Hammar Dissertation title (as for now 😀) Quantification and improvement of forest product climate characteristics from a system perspective Topic – in brief The challenge Climate change increases the pressure on forests in many ways: ‘Natural pressure’ a rise in droughts, forest fires, strong winds and insect outbreaks…
-
#6 Joana: designing organic fertilisers by blending animal manures
How can mixing different animal manures together enhance their value and increase their ability to replace mineral fertilisers? Joana Prado is a PhD student at the University of Lisbon and she is part of the EU project Nutri2Cycle. Department and Section: Instituto Superior de Agronomia University supervisor: David Fangueiro, Paula Alvarenga and Henrique Ribeiro Dissertation title: Blending of raw and treated manure to produce bio-based fertiliser Topic – in brief The challenge: manure is rather unpredictable in terms of its fertiliser value whereas farmers can be quite sure about effects and usefulness of mineral fertilisers the nutrient ratio in manures is suboptimal for plant growth: if one applies according to…
-
#5 Clara: Biochars & ashes as bio-based fertilisers
How to enhance the plant availability of phosphorus of biowaste-derived biochars and ashes? Clara is a Marie-Curie PhD student at the University of Copenhagen and part of the EU project FertiCycle. She conducts research on biochars and ashes and on how to increase their fertiliser value. Department and Section: Department of Plant and Environmental Science, Soil Fertility Group 1st supervisor: Dorette Müller-Stöver 2nd supervisor: Lars Stoumann Jensen Dissertation title (as for now :D) Enhancement of plant phosphorus availability from biowaste biochars and ashes Topic – in brief Bio-based fertilisers : Enhancing the phosphorous availability from biochar and ashes What is biochar? Similar to coal production: Organic compounds are heated up…
