Saskia Läubli

I'm a doctoral candidate in environmental sciences researching mercury mobility of Fennoscandian Palsa mires. I study both the re-emission of mercury to the atmosphere as well as the lateral transport of particle bound mercury to downstream ecosystems.

Palsa mires are Arctic ecosystems right at the southern limit of permafrost occurrence. They are characterized by a heterogeneous landscape of permafrost plateaus and wetlands, and are unique for their biodiversity and groundwater regime. Mercury has accumulated in thick peat deposits of these ecosystems, alongside organic carbon, over millennia. Due to climate change, Palsa mires thaw at unprecedented speed. We don´t know yet what happens to the large mercury reservoirs in permafrost, and what mechanisms drive changes therein. 

Within my PhD project, me and my supervisors and collaborators try to disentangle different biogeochemical transformations of mercury compounds within a thawing Fennoscandian Palsa mire, to assess the emerging risks of permafrost thaw for local communities and the global implications on the recovery from mercury as a legacy pollutant. 

I support the Stockholm Declaration about the reformation of Scientific Publishing and am eager to engage in and learn about Arctic Governance and Social Justice. If you have questions, comments or are interested to collaborate, please reach out. 

I’m supervised by Sofi Jonsson (SU), Julie Lattaud (SU) and Ulf Skyllberg (SLU).