Malte Posselt Assistant Professor

I am an environmental chemist with a background in analytical chemistry, biology and ecotoxicology. My research focuses on organic pollutants in the aquatic environment. This includes pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and many more. We develop new high-resolution methods to trace them down and try to understand where they come from and how they behave in the environment. We identify substances or breakdown products that are particularly problematic and look for solutions to counteract the risks.

We combine elements of environmental analytical chemistry, microbiology, biogeochemistry, hydrology and scientific modelling in our projects.

Some of our current research questions:

• Why are some rivers better than others at removing pollutants?
• How will the climate breakdown affect the quality of our drinking water resources and how can we prepare for that?
• Under what conditions do pollutant-degrading microorganisms work most effectively?
• Which factors control the removal efficiency of household chemicals in wastewater treatment plants?
• What is the best way to measure and compare biotransformation in the environment?
• How efficient are constructed wetlands in removing micropollutants and transformation products from treated wastewater.

Alumni 

Michael McLachlan, Elisabeth Werrmann, Luca Paganoni, Run Tian, Mar Fauria Soler, Magdalini Sarntaridou, Kangli Lin, Leo Dorogi, Samuel Letofski, Samuel Christe, Isaline Lhoste