Environmental Sciences

Overview

• Environmental Sciences from Aarhus University research takes departure in both natural and social science disciplines, and includes both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Environmental Science has a particular emphasis on tackling the major challenges that face society like pollution and pollution control mechanisms, management of soil, water, air and biodiversity, protection of ecosystem service delivery, climate change, and energy systems.
• These challenges are creating a growing need for scientists with rigorous interdisciplinary scientific training and Environmental Science offers a curriculum that is designed to prepare students for future leadership within this discipline.
• As already stated environmental science is highly interdisciplinary and ranges from physics, chemistry, microbiology, geography, mathematics, and computer science, to social science, economics and policy. Central in environmental science studies are anthropogenic but also natural emissions to the environment starting a complex chain of processes involving transport, chemical and physical transformations and impact of the directly emitted species or their products on climate, nature, well-being and health.
• The studies related to social science includes investigations of what controls our decisions and behaviour and how these affects environmental pressures. Another branch of studies concern improving our understanding of governing physical, chemical and biological processes controlling the fate of pollutants emitted to the environment.
• Studies include development of new analytical methods, application of state-of-the-art analytical instruments to for carrying out field investigations as well as development and application of mathematical models in the aim of improving our understanding of governing processes in the environment, but also in evaluating the efficiencies of various abatement strategies and policy tools in environmental management.

Examples of areas of research are

• Ecology of GMOs and microbial pest control agents
• Development of sustainable biotechnology for e.g. remediation of contaminated sites
• The environment as reservoir for pathogenic bacteria and virulence, and its role in the development and spreading of infectious diseases
• Emissions, and physical and chemical processes governing air pollution loads and levels in urban, rural and marine environments
• The abundance and fate of short-lived climate forcers in the atmosphere
• Governing processes for long-range transport of pollutants
• Load of xenobiotics at remote locations
• Optical properties and cloud formation potential of atmospheric particles
• Governing processes and impact of agricultural emissions (ammonia, fugal spores, allergenic material from animals) on health and environment
• Processes and assessment of allergenic pollen and its impact on human health
• Behavial research to answer questions like - what is the motivation for people to buy wood stoves? what is needed to increase the proportion of people choosing to use public transport instead of the private car? etc.
• Social changes influencing the environment and their underlying driving forces
• Policy instruments, decision processes and institutions, implications for policies
• Development of information for economic decisions and prioritisation: cost effectiveness, valuation of environmental benefits etc.
• Spatial aspects of environmental pressures and management of the environment