European Geosciences Union
Division on Energy, Resources and the Environment
President: Sonja Martens (ere@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Christopher Juhlin (christopher.juhlin@geo.uu.se)
Officer "Above ground":
Viktor Bruckman (viktor.bruckman@oeaw.ac.at)
Officer "Economics & Integration":
Kristen Mitchell (drkristenmitchell@gmail.com)
Officer "Outreach & Education":
Maria Ask (maria.ask@ltu.se)
Officer "Publications":
Michael Kühn (mkuehn@gfz-potsdam.de)
Officer "Subsurface":
Suzanne Hangx (s.j.t.hangx@uu.nl)
ECS Representative:
Natalie Christine Nakaten (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.
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.
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.
Kristen has an academic background in isotope biogeochemistry. As a post-doc Kristen investigated marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean and the Great Lakes. While an AAAS Congressional fellow she worked in the U.S. House of Representatives on energy and environment policy. Kristen currently works on both scientific and policy projects ranging from global change science to ocean policy.
Maria’s research interests are focused on rock mechanics of sediments and rocks and the state of in-situ stress. She is involved in various projects, for example investigating the stress state for storage of CO2 and petroleum prospecting, as well as rock mechanical properties of reservoir and cap rock in CO2 storage.
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.
Suzanne is an experimental rock mechanist by background. She has always been curious about the physical and chemical processes that control rock material behaviour in the subsurface, along with the direct relevance of this field to socially relevant issues, such as geological storage of CO2 and geo-energy production. Her background in both academia and industry puts her in a perfect position to combine the best of both worlds, translating and linking purely scientific research to the needs of industry and society, and a sustainable future.
The 2018 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientists Award is awarded to Victor Vilarrasa for significant contributions to the understanding of the thermo-hydro-mechanical processes inducing seismicity in geo-energy-related operations.
The 2017 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Awards is awarded to Adrian Metzgen Impact of pH on hydrogen oxidizing redox processes in aquifers due to gas intrusions
The 2017 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Awards is awarded to Vincent Rolin Counter-rotating vortex pairs in the wake of a vertical axis wind turbine
With the EGU General Assembly just over a week away, we have a number of updates on the meeting, happening in Vienna from 8–13 April. Our conference organiser Copernicus has launched a great mobile app, and we recently announced a number of measures to reduce the environmental impact of the conference, from encouraging people to travel by train to introducing an option for participants to offset their carbon footprint. On the EGU blog, GeoLog, you can find posts about the city of Vienna, and a selection of Union-wide events, short courses and policy activities at the EGU General Assembly. For students taking part in the Outstanding Student Poster and PICO, there are also some tips from the judges on how to prepare a poster or PICO presentation.
This month, we have also announced that we are accepting nominations for EGU awards and medals. We encourage the EGU membership to consider gender, geographical and cultural balance when nominating outstanding Earth, planetary and space scientists at various career stages.
Last but not the least, we have also announced that we are launching two new publications at the 2018 General Assembly: a journal, Geoscience Communication, and a compilation, the Encyclopedia of Geosciences. Find these and many other EGU updates below.