Partner 03: Universitaet Bern

Partner description

With 18,000 students and 3,000 PhD students, UBERN is the third largest university in Switzerland and with 18,000 students and 3,000 PhD students, UBERN is the third largest university in Switzerland and was ranked 110 in the 2019 Times World University Rankings. The university’s comprehensive offer includes 8 faculties with more than 150 institutes and 9 inter- and transdisciplinary centers of excellence.

The Institute of Geography conducts diverse research on relevant topics of geography. The research is organized in ten research units. The Soil Science Unit studies the biogeochemistry of soils under global change to improve environmental health and food production. We use advanced analytical approaches to understand soil pollution and soil organic matter dynamics in response to land management and climate change. We investigate matter fluxes between soils and atmosphere, biota, ground and surface water from nano to field scale.

Website: https://www.geography.unibe.ch/research/soil_science_group/group_portrait/index_eng.html

Role in the project

UBERN will lead WP2, focusing the PPPs’ distribution and health state in case study sites as well as the development and validation of an integrated diagnostic approach. UBERN is responsible for the Swiss Case study site CSS4-Switzerland. UBERN will also be strongly involved in WP4 on ecotoxicological assessment and WP6 on cost-benefit analyses.

Involved personnel

03 Alaoui

Dr. Alaoui is a Senior research scientist. Over 25 years of experience in soil sciences with a focus on dual-porosity modeling of flow and transport in the unsaturated zone; the importance of soils for agriculture, forestry, and ecosystem functions; modeling effects of land use and climate change on soil and water resources across scales.

UNIB Bigler Christine

Dr. Bigler is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Bern. Christine Bigler is a geographer and holds a Ph.D. in Sustainable Development. She has been working since 2014 in the field of gender and sustainability. From 2014 to 2016 she was based in Rwanda at the Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and was researching agricultural transformation from a gender perspective. Furthermore, she leads and coordinates different mandates for development cooperation organizations on gender-specific issues. In particular, she supports the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).