Let’s celebrate! 10 years of IRI THESys

In 2023, the IRI THESys will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Behind us are 10 special years of inter- and transdisciplinary research on transformations of human-environment systems. This meant (and still means!) running research projects, publishing books, papers, and reports, holding scientific and public events, and, last but not least, promoting young researchers who are about to…

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New study: Fish and humans benefit from ecological enhancement of water bodies

THESys Member Robert Arlinghaus (IGB & HU Berlin) and his colleagues have ecologically enhanced 20 lakes in Lower Saxony. The transdisciplinary study on their large-scale experiment was published in the journal Science. Berlin researchers argue for ecosystem-based management The loss of biodiversity in inland waters is a cause for concern. Many conservation concepts aim to…

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Call open: THESys Summer School on Situating Hydrological Modelling

From 18-22 September 2023, IRI THESys will host a summer school for doctoral researchers. The call for participation is now open. Application is possible until 16 April. How to situate hydrological modelling? Let’s do some research on research! Hydrological modelling is central to attempts at better understanding and predicting the uneven water distributions that increasingly…

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Anna Frohn Pedersen: successful defence

On 3 February 2023, THESys researcher Anna Frohn Pedersen has successfully defended her doctoral thesis “In the Search for Gold: Hope, Power and Precarity in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining”. Congratulations! Anna’s doctoral project explored the global-local entanglements within the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector of Tanzania, and how these connections enable, disturb and disrupt flows…

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New Paper: Agricultural intensification, Indigenous stewardship and land sparing

Together with colleagues, THESys doctoral researcher Marie Pratzer has published a paper on agricultural intensification, Indigenous stewardship and land sparing in tropical dry forests in Nature Sustainability. “Higher yields are often assumed to lead to less deforestation, because more can be produced on less land. We find that this assumption is wrong, especially where market-oriented…

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Experimental study: Conversion of agro-residues into biochar

Mario A. Heredia S., THESys guest scientist, and Ina Säumel, THESys Member, have together published a paper that involves indigenous communities of the Andes Highlands, a science-based start-up in Ecuador and the European Committee for Training and Agriculture CEFA. Mario A. Heredia S., THESys guest scientist, and Ina Säumel, THESys Member, have together published a paper that involves indigenous…

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THESys Award 2022: Five Bachelor and Master theses honoured

The winners of the THESys Award 2022 have been chosen. Congratulations to Colin Lehmann, Sophie Vermeulen, Sarah Felix, Eva-Maria Kachold and Alexander Meinert for their outstanding Bachelor and Master theses! With this prize, the IRI THESys annually honours talented students of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin who have written a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis in the field…

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New paper: Multi-method approach to understand air pollution in Nagasaki

THESys Postdoc Santos Chicas recently authored a paper in Scientific Reports on spatiotemporal distribution, trend, forecast, and influencing factors of transboundary and local air pollutants in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan . Helping to implement more effective pollution management strategies The study used a multi-method approach to provide a holistic understanding of PM2.5 and NO2 pollution in…

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