Volker Bruchert Associate professor of Biogeochemistry
Contact
Name and title: Volker BruchertAssociate professor of Biogeochemistry
Workplace: Department of Geological Sciences Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room R 307Svante Arrheniusväg 8 C, Geohuset
Postal address Institutionen för geologiska vetenskaper106 91 Stockholm
Research group
About me
I am Associate Professor for Geochemistry in the Department of Geological Sciences at Stockholm University and co-leader of the research theme "Water, biogeochemistry and climate in the Bolin Centre for Climate Research. My research focuses on understanding the regulation of the major biogeochemical cycles in aquatic environments through the action of macro- and microorganisms and their response and adaptation to climate change and eutrophication effects. Currently, I focus on scaling inshore coastal sea-air exchange of methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide in heterogeneous coastal environments. Another project focuses on rates and fluxes in the turbulent bottom boundary layer.
In the department I teach both ground and advanced courses in geochemistry and biogeochemistry. I have been active in the design of new courses for our geoscience B.Sc. and geochemistry M.Sc. programs.
I am also the Study Director of the Masterprogram in Geological Sciences and member of the department board and the university section committee for Earth and Environmental Sciences.
I teach in the following courses:
Candidate program:
Basics of Geochemistry (from 2018)
Geochemistry in the field and laboratory (from 2018)
Master and PhD level
Biogeochemistry (coordinator and teacher)
Isotope Geology (teacher)
Global Biogeochemical Cycles (teacher)
Applied Environmental Geochemistry (teacher)
I am a marine biogeochemist with a background in geochemistry and microbiology. My research interests are the coupled biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. In my group we work in coastal and offshore sedimentary environments and the water column of the Baltic Sea, the Barents Sea, and the Arctic shelf seas. Research questions focus on benthic and pelagic nitrogen cycling processes and carbon mineralization of terrestrial and marine organic matter. We also investigate sea-air exchange of methane and nitrous oxide.
My research approach draws on a broad array of analytical instrumentation that makes use of stable isotope mass spectrometry, liquid scintillation-based radioisotope analysis, gas chromatography, and liquid chromatography, as well as microelectrode and optode-based instrumentation. These anaytical techniques are used in a mixture of field- and laboratory-based work with an even balance between field data acquisition and experimental work. We conduct isotope labeling experiments with radiotracers (mostly S-35 sulfate, P-33, and 3H in (CH4)-based experiments) and stable isotope tracers (C-13, N-15, S-34 and 18O), as well as high-resolution O2, pH, and H2S microelectrode analyses. In addition, we are developing non-invasive seafloor sampling instruments for seafloor in-situ measurements to quantify the exchange of important biogeochemicals between the seafloor and the overlying the overlying water.
Through collaborations at the Stockholm SciLifelab we combine our biogeochemical research with molecular biological work.
Current integrated large research activities:
SWERUS-C3: Carbon, climate, cryosphere interactions in the Eastern Siberian Arctic Ocean
Focus: Sediment and water column methanogenesis and methane oxidation, carbon mineralization rates and pathways of carbon mineralization
Baltic Ecosystem:
Focus: Nitrogen cycling processes in sediment and water of the Baltic Sea; coupled iron-silica-phosphorus-carbon cycles in sediment; decelopment of non-invasive benthic lander systems for long-term biogeochemical in-situ measurements at the seafloor; greenhouse gas exchange in eutrophied near-shore environments; carbon and nitrogen cycling associated with cyanobacterial aggregates
Methane and N2O emissions from near-shore environments of the Baltic Sea