European Geosciences Union
Division on Energy, Resources and the Environment
President: Viktor Bruckman
(ere@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Sonja Martens
(martens@gfz-potsdam.de)
The 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.
ECS Representative:
Giorgia Stasi (ecs-ere@egu.eu)
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.
Chris has a background in geology and geophysics and has been involved in both academic and industry projects, both in the natural resource and energy sectors. Current research interests include crustal geophysics, high resolution seismics, seismic modelling, mining geophysics, geological storage of CO2, and scientific drilling.
Dr Neha Mehta is a Research Fellow in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Queen’s University Belfast. Her research interests lie in environmental sustainability, circular economy, and climate change. She has worked on interdisciplinary approaches and projects including life cycle assessment of conversion of agri-food wastes to biofuels; stakeholder attitudes towards bio-based plastics; material flow analysis of plastics; and human health risks due to contaminants. She is passionate about inclusivity in Science and Academia and is an active member of PDC Representatives’ Network QUB, The Inclusion Group for Equity in Research in STEMM (TIGERinSTEMM) and Early Career Researcher Network of European Geosciences Union.
Ana T. Lima is a senior researcher at the Technical University of Denmark. Her work fringes on the natural and built environments, using (bio)geochemical, engineering, and modeling tools to understand contaminants in this continuum, create solutions, and translate them into policy. For the last 15+ years, she has worked on several continents and has had the opportunity to work with world-renowned leaders in two distinct fields: electrokinetics and (bio)geochemistry. Her most recent interests stem from the need to improve construction materials sustainability and quantify circular economy practices in alleviating GHG emissions and resource use.
Michael is a geochemist and hydrogeologist by training with a research focus on the numerical simulation of hydrogeothermal systems in the subsurface. This includes quantification of interactions between deep and shallow groundwater systems, geochemical water-rock-interactions, coupled numerical simulation (hydraulical, thermal, mechanical, chemical), formation of ore deposits, CO2 storage in geologic formations and hydrogeothermal energy provision.
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 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Hung-En Li Forecasting impacts of climate change on plantation carbon sink capability
The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Lieke van der Most Extreme impacts in the European renewable electricity system as a result of climate variability
The 2022 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Tobias Schnepper Hydrogeochemical impact assessment of pumped hydro power storage in open-pit lignite mines
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 November newsletter, we celebrate geoscientists who see the unseen: from German scientist Alfred Wegener who proposed the shocking theory of continental drift, to Morelia Urlaub, researcher of underwater landslides, a phenomena otherwise unseen by humans.
We also hear from Sustainable Energy Geoscientist Munira Raji who reflects on attending the UN’s COP27 in Egypt, and EGU Policy Manager Chloe Hill describes what happened during our special EU Parliament event, ‘Supporting the EU’s Biodiversity Targets by Bridging the Science-Policy Divide’.
Lastly, don’t forget to check your inbox for the next EGU23 monthly Update from Copernicus, arriving early December. If you miss an Update you can subscribe here.