Sofi Jonsson Associate Professor/Unit manager
Contact
Name and title: Sofi JonssonAssociate Professor/Unit manager
Mail: sofi.jonsson@aces.su.se
Phone: +4686747187
ORCID0000-0002-6142-6983 Länk till annan webbplats.
Workplace: Department of Environmental Science Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room R 525Svante Arrheniusväg 8 C, Geohuset
Postal address Institutionen för miljövetenskap106 91 Stockholm
About me
Our environment is in constant motion and change. While some of these movements are visible — like water falling from the sky and traveling to lakes and oceans — many processes remain hidden to the human eye. For example, the way elements cycle between air, soil, sediment, and water, and how they transform between different chemical forms. As a chemist, I’m fascinated by our ability to trace these “invisible” processes in such a complex system. In particular, I’m interested in the cycling of metals and how we can link anthropogenic emissions of toxic metals to their inherent environmental and human health risks.
We currently have three main research teams
Arctic mercury cycling – What will happen to the large amounts of mercury stored in northern permafrost soils as it rapidly thaws? Where does the mercury entering the Arctic Ocean come from? How available is the mercury transported from the terrestrial environment for different environmental processes?
Role of dimethylmercury – How is dimethylmercury produced and degraded in different systems? Does dimethylmercury contribute to the pool of mercury accumulated in marine food webs?
Secondary sources of toxic metals – To what extent do mercury and other metals stored in contaminated sites pose a risk of being released into downstream systems and contributing to environmental toxicity? Are there transport processes between compartments that we are currently overlooking?
Members of my research group: Charlotte Haugk and Saskia Läubli (PhD students focusing on mercury in permafrost soils), Ilaria Barale (PhD student focusing on mercury in the Baltic Sea), Apinya Saentho (PhD student focusing on toxic metals in contaminated soils), Alyssa Azaroff (researcher focusing on Arctic mercury cycling), Alina Kleindienst (post doc focusing on isotopic fraction on mercury)
Graduated students: Johannes West (PhD degree 2022 – Degradation Pathways of Dimethylmercury in Natural Waters), Sonja Gindorf (PhD degree 2025 – Methylmercury Dynamics along the Land-to-Sea Aquatic Continuum)
I primarily teach within our Master's Programme in Environmental Science - Atmosphere, Biogeochemistry and Climate - Stockholm University (su.se), where we delve deep into biogeochemical processes on both a global and more local level. At the end of the first year of the master's program, I coordinate the course Environmental Field Studies - Stockholm University (su.se), where we go into forests, rows out on a lake and go out on the Baltic Sea to gain a better understanding of how environmental science is practiced. Within the group, we also supervise students during their project work at both the undergraduate and master's levels.
Article from previous visit to Askö
Teaching sampling methods at Lake Erken (2024), photo: Larissa Frey
Mercury in permafrost soils. Northern permafrost soils are estimated to hold as much mercury (Hg) as all other soils, the atmosphere, and the oceans combined. Destabilization of these landscapes due to permafrost thaw has already been linked to increased concentrations of Hg in downstream systems and release of Hg to the atmosphere. A robust understanding of the underlying soil Hg remobilization processes is, however, still missing. My research group is involved in several project aiming to unravel the climate vulnerability of Arctic Hg stocks.
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Tavvavuoma sampling campaign (2021). During this field campaign the aim was to investigate stocks of mercury in the permafrost peatland in Tavvavuoma, northern Sweden. In the first photo (right) we see peat actively collapsing into the fen, this is a natural process in peatland that due to climate change occures at accellerating rates. On the left side, soil cores colleced from below the permafrost core (top) and from the fen where peat collapsed due to permafrost thaw.