Dr Matthias Kuhnert

Biography

since 2010 Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Aberdeen (Scotland)

2007 - 2010 Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology of the Technische Universitaet Dresden (Germany)

2003 - 2006 GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Germany)

2002 Visiting scholar at the Institute of Ecological Economics at the University of Maryland (USA)

1994 - 1997 Biological Technician at the Max-Planck-Institute of Experimental Medicine in Goettingen (Germany)

Research Overview

The research focus is environmental modelling, with the focus on greenhouse gas emissions and soil organic carbon. Especially, croplands and potential mitigation options for climate change were part of recent research. Here negative emissions (carbon sequestration to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere) are of major interest.

Alongside carbon sequestration strategies, carbon accounting including the measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of soil organic carbon changes is of special interest. MRV systems provide data for soil organic carbon changes, which are required for carbon certificate trading, legal obligations or subsidies. My actual work shows also a strong focus on developing applicable MRV systems, which are crucial to implement mitigation strategies.

As an environmental modeller, I use a wide range of different models. In my actual work and mainly use the biogeochemical models DAYCENT and ECOSSE. The actual focus of my modelling work is on European agriculture and rice systems.

Key words: MRV systems, Map Comparison, Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere-Transfer, phenology, ecological modelling, soil erosion, water repellent soils, nitrogen Emissions, scale effects, extreme events, GHG emissions, soil organic carbon, SOC modelling, decomposition, croplands, agriculture, climate neutral, sustainable farming, organic farming

Current Research

ClieNFarms: https://www.inrae.fr/en/news/more-climate-neutral-and-climate-resilient-farms-across-europe

VERIFY: http://verify.lsce.ipsl.fr/

Past Research

CIRCASA: https://www.circasa-project.eu/

U-GRASS: https://www.soilsecurity.org/u-grass/

MACSUR: http://macsur.eu/

Teaching Responsibilities

SBS Master projects

Honours Essay Course (BI4517)

Part of the "Catchment Management Course" (EK5511) lecture series: Introduction to hydrological Modelling (this includes a lecture, a practical exercise and a tutorial)

Part of the "Ecology and Environmental Science" (BI1511) lecture series: Interconnectivity, Biogeochemistry 1 + 2, Climate Change and Mitigation

Supervision of 3 PhD students.