News

“We must move away from silo thinking”

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Ecological crises such as biodiversity loss, climate change and food security are interconnected and must be tackled in a coordinated way. This is one of the core statements of the Nexus Assessment Report published by IPBES. Maria J. Santos is one of the main authors of the comprehensive scientific analysis published this week.

Coffee in the Shade

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Farming coffee can be both ecological and profitable at the same time, according to the research of Earth system scientist Maria J. Santos. The key is to combine the crops with trees.

“Biodiversity is our life insurance”

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 14:04:57 GMT

Ecosystems are more stable and productive when they contain more species. This has been demonstrated impressively by researchers from the URPP Global Change and Biodiversity. The successful program is committed to ensuring that the value of biodiversity is better understood and appreciated in society.

“Climate change and biodiversity are closely connected”

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:27:42 GMT

The third World Biodiversity Forum (WBF), organised by UZH, is taking place in Davos this week. In this interview, UZH earth system scientists Maria J. Santos and Gabriela Schaepman-Strub explain how biodiversity and climate change influence each other and what needs to be done to overcome the climate and biodiversity crisis.

UZH as a real-world laboratory

Tue, 14 May 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Green4Clim uses the UZH Irchel campus as a real-world laboratory to investigate how vegetation composition and distribution may mitigate carbon impacts of campus activities.

Considering local demand for more effective restoration in Madagascar

Tue, 14 May 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The rapidly increasing private and public funding poured into reaching net-zero carbon goals through restoration risk side-lining people in the Global South. Investigating how restoration can be more demand-oriented and developing implementation projects that follow demand may instead deliver for people and nature alike.

Observation of Ecosystem Changes for Action – OBSGESSION

Tue, 14 May 2024 22:00:00 GMT

This new Horizon Europe+SERI+UK Research and Innovation project aims to develop the workflow on how to respond to Science and Policy Needs for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Change monitoring and Attribution towards science-based solutions over the next 4 years.

Biodiversity and ecosystem service scenarios across global mountain, island and delta systems

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 22:00:00 GMT

A project led by Maria J. Santos was identified as one of the winners of the competition open by SWISS-RE Foundation, AXA Research Fund and WWF on modelling biodiversity and ecosystem service loss to advance resilience.

Fleeing climate disasters

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Climate change is expected to become one of the main reasons for migration in the future. And the poorest will be hit hardest. Christian Huggel and Maria J. Santos analyze which regions are particularly under threat and how to best manage mass relocations.

«Wir verändern unseren Planeten nachhaltig»

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Mit dem Anthropozän, dem Zeitalter des Menschen, soll ein neuer Abschnitt der Erdgeschichte markiert werden. Doch was ist das Anthropozän? Wann beginnt es? Und wie zeichnet es sich aus? Ein Gespräch mit der Erdsystemwissenschaftlerin Maria J. Santos und der Historikerin Debjani Bhattacharyya.

Sustainable and climate-resilient management of high-Andean ecosystems

Communications — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 23:00:00 GMT

GIUZ scientists won an international bid for a new project at the intersection of climate change, ecosystems and biodiversity in the Tropical Andes, opening important opportunities for a dialogue and action with policy makers and other stakeholders.

Thinking locally to solve the climate change and biodiversity crises

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 23:00:00 GMT

World leaders were in Glasgow for COP26, but few expected revolutionary progress from the summit. What if the solutions are among us, our friends, and social connections?

GIUZ Researchers at COP26

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 23:00:00 GMT

From 1-12 November 2021, the Glasgow Climate Change Conference takes place: A few GIUZ researchers will be there, others are involved in side events in Geneva or online.

Pandemics, biodiversity and climate

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 22:00:00 GMT

Why does it make sense to combine these topics to think about sustainability? Maria J. Santos, Professor of Earth System Science, at the expert discussion on "Shaping Resilient Societies Towards a Sustainable Future".

How does an education in Geography and Earth System Science matter for sustainability?

Maria J. Santos — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 23:00:00 GMT

In current times we experience everyday news about ongoing major global changes and risks, from climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, health and diseases, among others. We are urged to act so that we can ensure a sustainable and livable planet that enables our vision of «one earth – many worlds». Sustainability comes in many forms of our daily lives, from personal choices of what we wear, eat or consume, how and whether we travel, but also reflected on our professions and behaviors as professionals.

Locked-in and living delta pathways in the Anthropocene

Utrecht University Communications — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 23:00:00 GMT

Deltas have historically been the focus of human development. Some deltas became locked-in, too costly to return to natural states. Researchers conducted a historical analysis on anthropogenic pressures over the past 300 years over 48 deltas world-wide.

The role of a developer at GIUZ

Diego Villamaina — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 23:00:00 GMT

A background in laser spectroscopy and a strong interest in computer vision for remote sensing to collaborate on sustainable development projects: Read about the expertise and motivation of a developer at GIUZ.

Intense days on the field course to Val Piora

Oli Reader, Maria J. Santos — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 22:00:00 GMT

Field courses provide some of the most memorable moments in learning and teaching Geography and Earth System Science. The students always show great enthusiasm - sometimes even too much, when they attempt one more sample while daylight is already fading.

Scientific games to understand social-ecological system dynamics

Hanneke van't Veen — Tue, 12 May 2020 22:00:00 GMT

What makes games so popular? Perhaps that the outcome depends on behavior, on strategy, but also on pure chance? One thing is certain: they are great tools for learning.

Grassroots ideas to halt biodiversity loss

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 23:00:00 GMT

The platform «Policy Kitchen» crowdsources innovative ideas on how to tackle the biodiversity crisis – and other pressing policy challenges. Selected proposals were recently discussed with experts and professionals from science, government and NPOs, among them Maria Santos, Professor of Earth System Science at the GIUZ.

Land Talks

Sun, 02 Jun 2019 22:00:00 GMT

As part of the Land Change Science course, students interviewed a person they know about observed land changes at different locations in Switzerland and produced a video.