Soil Science and Biogeochemistry
Tel.: 044 63 55140Room number: Y25 K 64Presence times: book contact hours (link below)michael.schmidt@geo.uzh.chWebsite
Contact
Outreach
June 2023
Microbes play leading role in soil carbon capture, study shows (Mongabay)
Microorganisms are key to storing carbon in soils
(UZH) (Cornell University) (Max-Planck-Inst. BGC) (Tsinghua Univ.)
based on:
Tao, Huang, Hungate, Manzoni, Frey, Schmidt et al. Microbial carbon use efficiency promotes global soil carbon storage. Nature 2023.
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May 2023
Interview (in German TV minutes 8:00-13:00)
Dep. Geography news
Climate Change Releases Carbon Stocks Deep Underground (UZH)
Preserving Forests to Protect Deep Soil From Warming (Lawrence Berkeley Lab)
Soil carbon buried deep beneath the forest is disrupted by climate change (Earth) (www.earth.com)
based on:
Zosso, Ofiti, Torn, Wiesenberg, Schmidt. Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming Nature Geoscience 2023 Vol. 16 (4), 344-348.
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April 2022
Initiative for Environmental Responsibility Scientific Committee.
See also newspaper report in NZZ and at Department sustaninibility inititiative.
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January 2021
Signatory of the Climate Action Plan Switzerland
link,
link to download
Soil as player in climate mitigation (blog / podcast)
link
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May 2021
Interview about soil health in agriculture (May 2021, Watson)
link
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early 2019
Signatory of the "Statement by scientists on the protests for more climate protection, Scientist for Future
https://de.scientists4future.org/ueber-uns/stellungnahme/
Professional Activities
Teacher of the Hour 2020 (student election)
Advisory Board of the National Hub of European Joint Program Soil (2020- )
Program Director for five Bachelor and Master programs at the of the Department of Geography UZH (2018-2020)
Member of the Swiss National Research Council, Division II Mathematics, Natural and Engineering Sciences (2011-2015)
Chair Switzerland in the European Science Foundation MOLTER program (2008-2013)
Research
Deep C: Deep soil carbon cycling in a warming world – the molecular perspective. (Swiss National Science Foundation 2017-2023)
CV / Education
Education
Univ. Bochum, Germany: MSc Geography (1985-1991), MSc Geology (1988-1993), PhD Geosciences, Dr. rer. nat. (1994-1997).
Univ. Cologne, Germany: Tenure track eligibility, venia legendi for Geography, Habilitation (2001)
Employment
| 1992–1993 | Environmental Consultant |
| 1994–1996 | Research Assistant (Univ. Bochum, Soil Science, Germany) |
| 1996–1998 | Research Assistant (Technical Univ. Munich, Soil Science, Germany) |
| 1998–2000 | Postdoc (Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena, Germany) |
| 2000–2002 | Research Assistant (Univ. Cologne, Geography, Germany) |
| 2002– | Professor for Physical Geography at the University of Zurich: Assistant Prof. (2002), Associate Prof. (2006), Full Professor (2014) |