Research at the Department of Earth Sciences

If you can't find the right researcher here, look under our reasearch programmes.
You can ask the communication officer at the department or contact Uppsala university central press unit

Arctic, glacier and ice research

Veijo Pohjola (glaciology, in particular physical processes in ice masses, ice cores, ice dynamics, climate data, climate warming).
Rickard Pettersson (glacier ice dynamics, stability and their link to climate, glacier mass balance, thermodynamics and the link between ice dynamics and glacial hydrological processes).

Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Malgorzata Blicharska (biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services)
Wiebren Boonstra, (agriculture, alternative technologies, global change, power structures)
Lina Mtwana Nordlund (coast and sea, seagrass, fisheries)

Carbon dioxide storage

Christopher Juhlin (researching how carbon dioxide can be stored in the bedrock to reduce large-scale emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere)

Climate research, historical and future climate, climate models

Anna Rutgersson (meteorology, climate, weather measurements, climate change)
Veijo Pohjola (glaciology, Arctic research)
Gabriele Messori (extreme weather events)
Jorijntje Henderiks (historical environment and climate change)

Climate politics and policy, Climate Change Leadership

Mikael Karlsson (climate policy and politics, analysis of climate goals, different ways to achieve them, and the consequences of a societal transition and how these can be managed).

Circular economy

Mikael Höök (metal/resource requirements for a green transition)
Martin Wetterstedt (carbon budgets, environment, energy, transition and sustainability issues)

Extreme weather

Gabriele Messori (extreme weather events, temperatures, precipitation, drought and surface winds)

Fossil fuels

Mikael Höök (supply, analysis and future trends of fossil fuels with a focus on oil and coal)
Hemin Koyi (geological processes and structures, mineral protection)

Geophysics

Ólafur Gudmundsson (seismology)
Christopher Juhlin (high resolution seismics, seismic modeling, mining geophysics, geological carbon dioxide storage and scientific drilling)
Alireza Malehmir (mining engineering with focus on mineral exploration, high resolution seismic imaging instruments, quick clay landslide and rock quality studies, 3D/4D geological modeling.)

Geochemistry

Anna Neubeck (origin of life, microbiology, geochemistry, petrology and biogeochemistry, isotope geochemistry, astrobiology)

Glacier research; state of the world's glaciers and historical climate change

Veijo Pohjola (glaciology, especially physical processes in ice masses, climate change, climate today from a historical perspective)

Global energy systems

Mikael Höök (natural resources, energy use and production)
Magdalena Kuchler (policy issues, biofuels, oil, natural gas, carbon budgets)
Henrik Wachtmeister (oil, gas, geopolitics)

Global warming

Anna Rutgersson (climate, climate models, ocean-atmosphere interaction and how it affects different aspects of weather and climate, such as extreme weather, but also the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle.
Mikael Karlsson (climate governance, environmental policy climate policy, biodiversity, sustainable development, environmental law)

Earthquakes

Björn Lund (earthquake analysis and risk assessment, how and why earthquakes happen)
Ari Tryggvasson (earthquake analysis and risk assessment)

The Earth's magnetic field and the Earth's magnetic poles

Ian Snowball (palaeomagnetism, quaternary geology and mineral magnetism)
Bjarne Almqvist (how the Earth's dynamic magnetic field works and how it changes over time)

Evolution of life, fossils, evolution, paleobiology

Graham E Budd (historical geology and paleontology)
Sebastian Willman (historical geology and paleontology)

Environmental toxins and chemicals

Ian Snowball (environmental toxins in the Baltic Sea, emissions from pulp and forest industries; fiber banks)
Roger Herbert (emissions from ore mining, spread of pollution by water)
Mikael Karlsson (environmental policy, environmental policy issues, environmental ethics)

Floods and water issues

Giuliano Di Baldassarre (risks, crises and disasters resulting from the interaction between water, environment and society)
Roger Herbert (water management in urban development, water treatment)
Johanna Mård (water and climate)

Mountains, rocks and minerals, rare-earth element

Karin Högdahl (Swedish bedrock, geochronology, mountain chain formation, rare-earth element)
Jaroslaw Majka, (rare-earth element, arctic geology, geochronology, applied mineralogy)

Magnetism, rock physics

Bjarne Almqvist (Rock Physics with specialisation in magnetism, physical properties of minerals and rock)
Ian Snowball, (Geo/paleomagnetism, prehistoric Earth's magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials)

Natural disasters

Giuliano Di Baldassarre (natural disasters, floods, droughts and floods, natural disaster risk reduction)
Björn Lund (natural disasters, earthquakes, volcanoes)
Valentin Troll (magmatic petrology, volcanology, geochemistry, volcanic hazards, natural resources, magmatic ore deposits)
Steffi Burchardt (magma, natural disasters, volcanic eruptions, structural geology, magma chambers, bedrock geology)

Natural resources and sustainable development

Patrik Rönnbäck (sustainable development, sustainable food, sustainable fisheries, nature tourism)
Magdalena Kuchler (sustainable development, bioenergy, shale gas, global energy systems)
Lina Mtwana Nordlund (coast and sea, seagrass, fisheries)

Renewable energy

Stefan Ivanell (wind energy)

Maria Ask (geothermal energy)

Rock mechanics and engineering geology

Maria Ask (geothermal energy, rock mechanics, rock strength)

Volcanoes

Valentin Troll (magmatic petrology, volcanology, geochemistry, volcanic hazards, natural resources, magmatic ore deposits)
Steffi Burchardt (magma, natural disasters, volcanic eruptions, structural geology, magma chambers, bedrock geology)
Björn Lund (seismology, vulcanoes, natural disasters)

Weather and meteorology

Anna Rutgersson (meteorology, climate, weather measurements, climate change)
Cecilia Johansson (weather, weather forecasting, impact of climate change on the structure of snow and its effect on animal and plant life)
Erik Sahlée (the atmospheric boundary layer, coastal zones and lake systems, processes governing the exchange of energy and greenhouse gases between water and the atmosphere.

Wind power

Stefan Ivanell (wind farm flows)

Our infrastructure is both in-house in the form of advanced laboratories, but we also have equipment that is available or used outside Sweden's borders.

See our infrastructure

The researcher portraits introduce some of the department's researchers and tell us about the people behind the research.

Read the researcher portraits