Current ClimBEco PhD students

Recruitment to the ClimBEco programme is open during the spring and accepted PhD students begin in August the same year.

Accepted PhD students are enrolled during two years of their PhD studies. There are two groups of PhD students in the ClimBEco programme at the same time. Below is a list of our current ClimBEco groups, Group 11 (2021-2023) and Group 10 (2020-2022), alphabetically ordered by first name, with a brief description of their PhD research.

Group 11 (2021-2023)

Carl Svenhag

Nuclear Physics, Lund University

I work on improving the parameterization of New-Particle-Formation in the earth system model EC-Earth over boreal forests. Results over the whole Anthropocene are compared to observe radiative effects on the climate from aerosol-size changes in the model.

Chansopheaktra Sovann

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I focus on assessing ecosystem services supply changes responding to land-use and land-cover changes. I apply machine learning methods using the Google Earth Engine as a platform to develop land cover maps.

Cole Brachmann

Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg

I investigate the effect of large mammalian herbivory on mycorrhizal dynamics across the subarctic. Selective foraging on deciduous shrubs may increase the prevalence of evergreen ericaceous shrubs on the landscape resulting in a higher proportion of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi.

Geerte Fälthammar-de Jong

Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg

I study the effects of different (micro-) climatic factors like elevation, snow and soil characteristics on the phenology of tundra plants. How plants respond to different circumstances can tell us about the ecosystem's future response to climate change.

Hannah Frostenberg

Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology

I work in improving the modelling of cloud microphysics. I am developing and testing a new freezing scheme within the large-eddy simulation model MIMICA. My modelling efforts focus on Arctic low-level clouds.

Hao Zhou (Frankie)

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I introduce within-grid cell spatial heterogeneity and develop lateral water flows among grid cells in LPJ-GUESS. I assess their impacts on regional and global carbon and nitrogen cycles. The focus is on Europe and the global land surface ecological process.

Julia Weber

Biology, Lund University

I investigate if the population persistence and density of flower-visiting insects (bees and butterflies) in semi-natural grasslands around southern Sweden benefit from the provisioning of complementary flower resources close to the pastures.

John Bergkvist

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

My work aims to provide more information on how changing climate conditions and forest management can affect forest ecosystems over long timescales. I use an ecosystem model to provide predictions relevant for stakeholders within forestry, and explore topics related to landscape multifunctionality and sustainability.

Karl Holmberg

Political Science, Lund University

I scrutinize the lock-in of plastics through its political economy and material culture. These two perspectives help inform my aim to formulate a vision of a society embedded in a sustainable material use.

Katja Garson

Political Science, Lund University

I explore knowledges of and discourses about the boreal forest in a context of climate change and resource conflict. Understanding how the northern forest is perceived by human and nonhuman actors is crucial for shaping sustainable, inclusive forest futures.

Katrín Björnsdóttir

Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg

I investigate how Arctic tundra vegetation responds to changes in environmental conditions. Determining the links between vegetation changes and carbon cycling in the tundra is critical to improve forecasting of future climate scenarios.

Kelly Dorkenoo

Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University

I focus on the differentiated socio-economic and ecological impacts, losses and damages from extreme weather events associated with climate change and how they affect people and society in contexts of rapid agrarian change.

Lovisa Nilsson

Nuclear Physics, Lund University

Soot particles warm the climate and exert a negative impact on human health. I look at the processes that govern the properties and number concentration of soot particles in south Swedish background air, conducting measurements at the research station Hyltemossa.

Mitro Müller

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I develop, test, and apply satellite remote sensing driven methods to monitor and quantify impacts of drought on Nordic agricultural and forest ecosystems, looking at how ecosystem monitoring can detect drought impacts and help enhance drought preparedness.

Robin Wollesen de Jonge

Nuclear physics, Lund University

I study the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere and how their oxidation products contribute to the formation, growth and chemical composition of secondary aerosol particles. I work with the ADCHAM and ADCHEM model to reproduce laboratory experiments and field observations.

Saga Bergqvist

Combustion Physics, Lund University

I study soot particles with laser based diagnostic techniques to understand the structure of the particles and their physical properties. I focus on soot from biomass combustion and how this affects the environment when the soot particles are released into the atmosphere.

Sara Winterfeldt

Biology, Lund University

I study how the soil environment shapes soil microbial communities and their processes to drying and rewetting events to increase our understanding of how drying and rewetting affect terrestrial C cycling and to improve ecosystem models to predict climatic scenarios.

Xueying Li

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I integrate satellite remote sensing and the crop growth model (LPJ-GUESS) to improve the assessment of climate change impacts on crop yields in Sweden, developing a long-term merged gridded evapotranspiration dataset.

Yuanyuan Quan

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I explore the impact of pollinator decline on plant community and ecosystem functioning from a landscape perspective. I combine manipulative and observational approaches to conduct multi-year experiments in the grassland systems within Skåne.

Group 10 (2020-2022)

Akash Deshmukh

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

My research topic is the physics of ice initiation in clouds and numerical modelling of storms. The modelling includes some processes which contribute to the generation of secondary ice.

Arti Jadav

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I research the role of primary ice initiation in clouds in the climate system to develop new treatments of ice initiation based on lab observations from the observation campaign Mid-latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E).

Sara Ullström

Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University

I focus on the growing movement in Sweden to reduce air travel. I investigate how narratives associated with avoiding flying have emerged, evolved, and spread in Swedish news and social media, and their power in fostering collective action and transformational change.

Carlos Gómez-Ortiz

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I develop a reliable and transparent method for quantifying fossil fuel CO2 emissions for Europe across countries, local regions and larger cities, combining high precision observations of atmospheric CO2 and radiocarbon 14CO2 with a model of fossil fuel emissions.

Cecilia Kardum Hjort

Biology, Lund University

I combine conservation biology and molecular ecology to understand the adaptive responses of bumblebees in Sweden to current environmental changes. I also study the invasive Bombus terrestris adapting to a novel environment on Tasmania.

Cecilia Larsson

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I look at policies promoting the use of agricultural biomass for energy in Sweden. I use economic and environmental modelling to study farm production decisions and land use changes in response to policy change, to evaluate policy options.

Dániel Tajmel

Biology, Lund University

The main focus of my PhD is to understand the thermal dependencies of soil microorganisms, if and how they will feedback to climate change. I study the effects of soil warming on microbial growth and respiration in different biomes across seasons.

Deborah Zani

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I work in improving the representation of tree migration and incorporate the feedbacks with additional species in the LPJ-GM model. Will migration lags slow down the spatial adaptation of vegetation to climate/land use change?

Deepak Waman

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I investigate the effect of cloud condensation nucleis and ice nucleis on cloud microphysical characteristics and precipitation using our Aerosol-Cloud model (ACM). I study simulations and compare them with aircraft and radar observations.

Hani Younes

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I research the dissolved organic carbon cycle in boreal freshwater, investigating variations of the pelagic respiratory quotient (RQ) in the fresh water marine systems. I have worked with stable carbon isotopes C13 to study the Lau Event minor turnover of the Late Silurian.

Hui-Wen Lai

Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg

I work on model simulations on the dynamics and importance of convection for precipitation in the Third Pole region; How do extreme weather events over the Tibetan Plateau change under a warming climate?

Jalisha Theanutti Kallingal

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I investigate modelling of vegetation dynamics and methane emission in boreal wetlands. Currently I am working on model optimisation algorithms to improve the LPJ-GUESS methane simulations.

Johan Kjellberg Jensen

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I focus on the impact of urbanization on organismal health and biodiversity. This includes insects and avian physiology, in addition to a lot of outreach and work with school children to learn about effects on their well-being from working with nature.

Josefin Winberg

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I focus on the potential of producing biomass for bioenergy on marginal land and abandoned farmland in Sweden. I analyse the land availability land using databases, remote sensing, GIS, and field work, and assess the ecosystem services and biodiversity impact of land use change.

Linda Lundmark

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I focus on Ecological compensation, a land use policy developed to mitigate negative environmental effects of exploitation, on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Linjie Li

Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg

My research topic is about investigating volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation and the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation with laboratory experiments, field observations, and modeling.

Madeleine Petersson Sjögren

Design Sciences, Lund University

I look at how inhaled ultrafine particles are transported and deposited in humans' lungs. I measure fluorescent aerosol particles at the research station Hyltemossa in Skåne to analyse which factors are crucial for the generation and spread of bioaerosols.

Melanie Karlsson

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I investigate the constraints of plant organic farming. I am interested in how the composition of the landscape around farms affects their yield and success in organic farming, and how this is affected by biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Paola Micaela Mafla Endara

Biology, Lund University

I investigate how the soil microorganisms are affected by the presence of different types of micro(nano)plastics. I use micro-engineered chips to analyze the interaction between soil microbes and micro(nano)plastics under the microscope.

Pedro Rosero

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

Pest damage on crops has always been a major issue in agriculture. My project is about the effects of eco-evolutionary dynamics on ecosystem services in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes.

Raül López I Losada

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

My focus is on assessing the environmental sustainability of increasing agricultural biomass production for biofuels in Sweden, as part of the Land4biomass project. I compare impacts of pesticide and fertiliser applications under different economic scenarios.

Theresia Krausl

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University

I look at how the ongoing pollinator declines influence the functioning of grassland ecosystems. I want to find out how the plant community changes when pollinators become scarce and how these changes in turn affect mutualistic relationships and ecosystem functioning.

Tjördis Störling

Geology, Lund University

I investigate changes in the silica composition of the global ocean through geological time. I am interested in how the cycling of silica changed across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary 66 Ma ago after a large meteorite struck the Earth causing mass extinction of life.

Tristan Bakx

Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University

I study how a landscape approach can be used to balance ecosystem services provided by Swedish production forests, looking at the effects of forest management strategies on levels of carbon stocks, soil and water quality, biodiversity and economic value.

Wilhelm Osterman

Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg

I investigate how Arctic plant communities respond and adapt to global warming by comparing plant community composition and functional trait composition between sites in different parts of the Arctic and within sites with different microclimate.

Ville Inkinen

Economics, University of Gothenburg

I evaluate environmental policies using microeconometric methods. I am working on projects where our primary aim is to evaluate how institutional factors have contributed to the development of biodiversity offset markets.

Zachary Nolen

Biology, Lund University

I investigate how climate change and land use change have impacted genetic diversity, demography, and evolvability in insects. I extract and compare genomic sequences from modern field caught pollinators with those from museum specimens collected before the onset of large scale agriculture in Sweden.