European Geosciences Union
Division on Energy, Resources and the Environment
President: Viktor Bruckman
(ere@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Sonja Martens
(martens@gfz-potsdam.de)
ECS Representative:
Giorgia Stasi (ecs-ere@egu.eu)
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) brings together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, covering all disciplines of the earth, planetary and space sciences. This geoscientific interdisciplinarity is needed to tackle the challenges of the future. A major challenge for humankind is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources. These should be obtained in environmentally sustainable ways, which is essential for economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability around the world. One goal of the division Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE) is to be a leading discussion forum for these issues. The core of the division consists of experts in various fields that will help meet the mutually coupled challenges of Energy, Resources and the Environment.
Viktor’s research interests include renewable energy from biomass, with a focus on forests. He is also involved in biochar research and the investigation of carbon and nutrient cycles which includes soil processes and climate change. His interdisciplinary and holistic approaches are directed towards a sustainable and eco-friendly utilization of biomass as a source for energy and industrial raw materials.
Sonja is a civil and environmental engineer by training with a background in both academia and industry. Her research focuses on hydrogeology , numerical flow and transport simulations and the sustainable use of georesources and the subsurface, for example investigating CO2 storage in geological media.
I am a geologist working since 2017 at the Geological Survey of Belgium (RBINS) with a focus on critical raw materials and technology development. I am currently enrolled in a PhD program in Applied Geophysics at the University of Liège (Belgium), with a research focusing on the development of geophysical techniques for deep mining and robotic autonomous exploration. As the new ERE ECS representative I would like to increase the opportunity of networking and connection, creating an active ECS community within the ERE division. I strongly believe in collaboration and in the importance in supporting young scientists in their career. If you’re interested in getting involved, do not hesitate to get in touch!
The 2021 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Giorgia Dalla Santa for her outstanding research on shallow geothermal systems for building conditioning.
The 2021 Virtual Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (vOSPP) Award is awarded to Weilin Huang Implementation of mycorrhizal mechanisms in a soil carbon model improves predictions of long-term plant litter decomposition processes
In the July issue of The Loupe, scientists share insights and learnings from diverse ecosystems under threat today. Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a physics-based numerical model to predict areas susceptible to landslides, Savanna conservationist Abraham Dabengwa tells us of his work in grassland biomes where fires, large herbivores, and humans are involved in the development and maintenance of these ecosystems, and scientists investigate the emergence of new seasons created by anthropogenic effects on our planet.
Also in this issue: EGU’s GeoPolicy blog highlights the Competence Framework ‘Science for Policy’ for researchers developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). Also apply to the EGU Policy Pairing scheme that invites researchers to spend a week in Brussels with a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).