People from the LURCH funding measure "Sustainable Groundwater Management" talk about their work. The idea: to make the many people and their exciting projects visible. Every fortnight, a new person is introduced on LinkedIn, Twitter and on this page.
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Gerhard Schertzinger
Project: gwTriade
Who am I?
My name is Gerhard Schertzinger. I studied Water Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen and then did my doctorate on the subject of "Sediment pollution and toxicity below combined sewer overflows". In 2019, I took over the management of the Toxicology and Substance Assessment business unit at the IWW (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wasserforschung gemeinnützige GmbH).
What do I do?
In the gwTriade project, we are developing an assessment concept for groundwater systems. The chosen triad approach is based on the pillars of chemical analysis, toxicology and fauna diversity. At the IWW, in-vitro tests are used to detect mutagenic, genotoxic or endocrine effects in order to identify potential threats to fauna diversity or drinking water extraction and to derive recommendations for action.
What excites me most about my work?
I find working in an interdisciplinary research environment particularly exciting and indispensable for evaluating complex issues holistically. Making a contribution to sustainable groundwater management motivates me, especially in the context of drinking water extraction from groundwater systems.
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Frederick Höckh
Project: GW_4.0
Who am I?
My name is Frederick Höckh, I work as a PhD student in the Hydrogeology group at the University of Tübingen under the supervision of Prof. Olaf Cirpka. I also completed my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Sciences and my Master's degree in Applied and Environmental Geoscience at the University of Tübingen. As part of my Master's thesis, in which I developed a groundwater model of the gravel body in the Neckar Valley, I was offered a doctorate within the project.
What do I do?
As part of LURCH, I am working on the GW_4.0 project to develop a groundwater model of the Upper Gäus and Neckar Valley. The project deals with short and long-term forecasts of groundwater availability, taking into account trends in climate change, population development, agriculture and urban development. The groundwater model serves as a tool for simulating possible changes in the system.
What excites me most about my work?
What excites me most is the complexity of the problem and the system to be modeled. In addition, the topic of sustainable groundwater management is becoming increasingly important. The evaluation of possible future scenarios is therefore an essential step in order to be able to guarantee a reliable drinking water supply in the medium and long term.
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Melanie Schüßler
Project: PFClean
Who am I?
My name is Melanie Schüßler. I studied Environmental Sciences in Tübingen for my Bachelor's degree and completed the consecutive Master's degree in Applied & Environmental Geoscience with a specialization in Environmental Chemistry, also in Tübingen. In my Master's thesis, which I wrote in the Environmental Analysis Group, I already dealt with the photocatalytic degradation of PFAS in soils, which is how I got my current position.
What do I do?
As part of the joint project PFClean, which aims to develop and test various technologies to remediate PFAS in contaminated soils and groundwater, I am working on the thermal decomposition of PFAS. For this purpose, I conduct laboratory experiments, the results of which can be used by the University of Stuttgart (VEGAS) for larger-scale thermal desorption experiments with PFAS.
What excites me most about my work?
My work is very varied and I find it exciting to be actively involved in such a practical project. In addition, the PFAS substance class is very diverse and most of it has not yet been researched. I would therefore like to contribute to a better understanding of these relevant environmental contaminants.
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Julian Börner
Project: StressRes
Who am I?
My name is Julian Börner, I studied Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim. I then worked for several years in project management for agricultural development projects, mainly in Bangladesh. After spending many years abroad, I returned to the University of Hohenheim, where I am now working on the StressRes joint project at the Department of Agricultural Management.
What do I do?
My main task in the StressRes project is the evaluation of voluntary measures for groundwater protection on the part of agriculture as well as the development of stress test scenarios based on various agro-economic, hydrological and climatic data and the subsequent modeling with a model network of agro-economic land use models and hydrological models.
What excites me most about my work?
I find working on the topic of groundwater protection very appealing. The interdisciplinary work with groups from other specialist areas and associated practice partners is also very exciting, as you get different perspectives on the problems. I particularly look forward to the collaboration and exchange with farmers.
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Angela Morales Santos
Project: WaRM
Who am I?
I'm Angela, I'm originally from Honduras, where I studied civil engineering. I came to Göttingen in 2016 to do a Master's degree in Hydrogeology. I continued my education in Vienna, where I did a PhD on the topic of irrigation management. I have been working as a research assistant on the "WaRM" project (Frankfurt/Rhine-Main water system model) at the Northwest German Forest Research Institute since March.
What do I do?
My role in the WaRM project is to determine the quantitative and qualitative contributions of forestry sites and possible forestry utilization scenarios to the groundwater resources of the study region. The results will contribute significantly to the development and evaluation of options for action for forestry stakeholders and thus to more sustainable groundwater management for Frankfurt/Rhine-Main.
What excites me most about my work?
The whole LURCH project is not only interesting, but also very important for achieving a more sustainable use of resources. It is also a pioneering project of its kind because it involves institutions from all over Germany and from many different disciplines. I am therefore delighted to be able to contribute to this innovative and integrative fight against the climate crisis.
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Olaf Cirpka
Project: GW_4.0
Who am I?
My name is Olaf Cirpka. I am a geoecologist (Karlsruhe 1992), received my doctorate in engineering from the University of Stuttgart in 1997, was a postdoc at Stanford, a working group leader in Stuttgart and at Eawag, and have been a professor of hydrogeology at the University of Tübingen since 2008. Our project GW_4.0 is based on preliminary work in SFB n1253 CAMPOS and other projects in the study area.
What am I doing?
I coordinate the GW_4.0 project, which is developing future management strategies for a gravel and a karst aquifer near Tübingen, taking climate and land use change into account. For short-term to seasonal management, we are developing a real-time model with a web interface for use by stakeholders.
What excites me most about my work?
I love developing mathematical models for flow, transport and reactions that can explain the system behaviour of aquifers and the substances they contain. It gets really exciting when systems behave differently than expected and after many experiments a new model can explain the data.
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Kathrin Szillat
Project: StressRes
Who am I?
My name is Kathrin Szillat. I studied Environmental Sciences and Hydrology at the University of Freiburg. Since completing my studies, I have been working at the Chair of Environmental Hydrosystems and am very pleased to be able to support and help shape the LURCH joint project StressRes as a doctoral student with my great interest in sustainable groundwater management and hydro(geo)logical modelling.
What am I doing?
In the StressRes project, we are developing a real-time digital monitoring and integrated modelling system for agricultural drinking water abstraction areas that can improve the resilience of drinking water management through stress testing scenarios. My area of responsibility includes groundwater modelling with consideration of land use, substance inputs and transport, as well as direct and indirect groundwater recharge.
What excites me most about my work?
My work is very versatile and I am grateful to be able to educate myself on a daily basis and to be able to exchange ideas with many different people. Above all, I am excited to see the added value of our work and to contribute to raising awareness of water as a vital resource through our research results.
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Catharina Capitain
Project: PFCLean
Who am I?
My name is Catharina Capitain. I studied applied environmental natural and geosciences at the University of Tübingen and already worked on PFAS in my master's thesis. After my studies I stayed in the Environmental Analysis Group to work as a PhD student in the LURCH joint project PFClean on the sustainable reduction of PFAS contaminants in soil and groundwater.
What am I doing?
The PFClean project is investigating the behaviour of PFASs in the environment and working on the further development of different remediation methods. My research area includes the identification of PFAS contaminants and their transformation products as well as transformation processes through photocatalytic and electrochemical oxidation.
What excites me most about my work?
I find this research topic very exciting and you learn something new every day. The work is very versatile because you have different activities and work with different people. What motivates me most is the fact that the research results help to make the environment cleaner.
