News
1 August 2023
The Centre for Energy and Environment at Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT), France is looking for an engineer in atmospheric science measurement techniques. The position is vacant within the research unit working on Atmospheric Science, and more precisely within the ACTRIS-EU topical centre for reactive trace gases in-situ measurements (CiGas). The core responsibilities of the engineer are to contribute to the operation of CiGas and the associated projects by:Organising the technical activities...
31 July 2023
The advanced course "Use of Technology in Field Biology '' took place between 6-9 June 2023 at Herdade da Ribeira Abaixo (HRA), one of the sites included in the Portuguese LTsER Montado platform. This course focused on the use of technological tools, which are increasingly employed in the collection of animal ecology field data, mainly due to the development of equipment that allows for automatic recording and storage of environmental information. The students received training on the use o...
31 July 2023
Berchtesgaden National Park (BNP) has been established in 1978 and protects 208 km² of rugged mountain landscapes in the Bavarian Alps. Research and monitoring in the park are conducted in close collaboration with the Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The ecology of mountain ecosystems is a particular focus of its interdisciplinary research. BNP is searching for a fully funded, part-time 3-year PhD student (m/f/d) starting...
28 July 2023
To support biodiversity research, Biodiversa+ will launch a new transnational joint research call "Nature-based solutions for biodiversity, human well-being and transformative change - BiodivNBS" in September 2023. The call will provide a better understanding of the tipping points, trade-offs and underlying mechanisms that influence nature-based solutions and their successful implementation in terms of benefits for nature, human well-being and societal transformation.It will address three resear...
27 July 2023
This work is part of eLTER PLUS T9.3 and uses multiple eLTER sites to evaluate already available data from remote sensing and re-analyses. Specifically, eddy covariance data on evapotranspiration and gross primary production is used to validate the spatial data products. Relating the gross primary production to the evapotranspiration, the water-use efficiency of an ecosystem then indicates the water-use strategy of the vegetation and the variability of its functionality. We calcul...
26 July 2023
LTER-D is organising a session "Long-term and historical data: prerequisites to reveal changes in ecosystems in the light of global change" at the GFOE conference "The Future of Biodiversity – overcoming barriers of taxa, realms and scales" in Leipzig (12-16 September 2023) with more than 1000 participants.The session is addressing the need to continuously track the status of ecosystems in order to watch the development and related impact on functions and processes in the long run. The imp...
25 July 2023
Representing the eLTER RI socio-ecological team, Daniel Orenstein and Merav Cohen from the Israel Institute of Technology traveled to Taiwan in April/May to learn about the Taiwanese experience in establishing LTSER platforms*.Taiwan’s three platforms (with a fourth in development) were established under the leadership of Prof. Teng-Chiu Lin and with the support of Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The platforms span diverse socio-ecological systems, including an island su...
25 July 2023
Digital Twins (DTs) started in industry to monitor and understand systems and processes, but they have now also become a hot topic in ecology. In a new paper (De Koning et al. 2023), they describe how DTs can help ecology, as a kind of real-time model that can integrate data and domain knowledge to continuously adapt to the real world.The study aims to clarify potential misunderstandings, as they are not necessarily artificial intelligence, large interconnected databases, and a synonym...
24 July 2023
The Portuguese LTsER Montado platform currently has several active research projects:- Project RENEWAL aims tot promote the resilience of agroforestry systems in drylands to a more arid future, ensuring ecosystem functions and services. It addresses climate change effects on oak woodlands (montados), semi-natural agroforestry systems of high ecological and socio-economic importance, that are an important ecosystem type southern Portugal. Montados are highly vulnerable to climate change and are c...
24 July 2023
Prof. Dr. Harry Vereecken has been awarded the 2023 Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership for his groundbreaking contributions to soil-plant-atmosphere research with a focus on subsurface processes related to the hydrological and biochemical cycles. Not only has he greatly advanced the specific research on the subject, but perhaps more importantly, he has been an integrator of connecting the individual sub-processes and sub-disciplines.In an interview he gave for eLTER regarding his awa...
31 December 2021
In 2019, as a response to alarming insect decline in Germany (e.g. Hallmann et al. 2017), the German network for Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER-D) launched the first nationwide Malaise trap project.The aim of the project, run in cooperation with Nationale Naturlandschaften (German umbrella organization of large protected areas), is to collect data on insect species diversity and population development in typical habitats in Germany, and to help to identify the processes underlying insect de...
29 December 2021
Two new scientific papers acknowledge the eLTER PLUS project. In the first, thousands of soil temperature sensors from around the globe allowed Jonas Lembrechts from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, to map the global soil temperature at a 1-km² resolution. These maps are freely available online with the methods described in Global Change Biology.The second paper focuses on the drivers of biodiversity loss. By analysing long-term trends of 1827 plant species 141 sites across mountain summits,...
18 November 2021
WasserCluster Lunz, an Austrian LTER Master Site, is looking to hire two PhD students from 1.1. 2022.The candidates will be focusing on effects of resource and organismal diversity on decomposition of particulate organic matter with a focus on benthic invertebrate fauna or microorganisms.For more information on job responsibilities and hiring requirements, please visit: https://wcl.ac.at/index.php/en/research/research-opportunities Application deadline: 6.12.2021
24 October 2021
From 28-31March 2022, the first international conference on microclimate ecology and biogeography, supported by the SoilTemp network, will be held in Antwerp, Belgium.
The Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography conference aims to be the first large international conference to put microclimate and its applications in ecology and biogeography on the centre stage. We welcome microclimate enthusiasts with a broad variation of interests, including different spatiotemporal scales , ecosystems an...
8 October 2021
The International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) announces the start of a webinar series to share and learn research findings using the ILTER sites worldwide.
For the first webinar they have invited as speakers two outstanding young and early-career researchers working on various topics of long-term and site-based ecological or socio-ecological studies:
Dr. Riley Andrade
Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida
ILTER member network: NSF...
28 September 2021
Considered as a major milestone in the development of the French national research infrastructure on Critical Zone "OZCAR", The 1st OZCAR summer school supported by CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and IRD (French National Institute for Research Development) took place from 11 to 16 July, 2021 at the Séolane centre, located in Barcelonnette, in the Southern Alps.
The school gathered nearly 60 people, 20 speakers and 40 participants with diversity in terms of disciplines,...
2 August 2021
150 people, 40 presentations, 6 countries, 4 sessions, 3 keynotes and 3 workshops: this is how the first Finnish Ecosystem Science Meeting (FESM), that took place at the beginning of May,could be described in numbers.This was the first combined meeting of these environmental research infrastructures in Finland and it was a great success. This kind of shared activity among the RIs shows how fruitful the interactions can be and demonstrates the value of integrated collaboration.The meeting inclu...
20 May 2021
We were saddened to learn recently of the death in January this year of Prof. Bill Heal. Bill was instrumental in setting up the UK's Environmental Change Network, securing substantial funding from the Natural Environment Research Council for both ECN and the TIGER programme.
Bill did his PhD on protozoa at Moor House NNR (an ECN site) and went on to coordinate the International Biological Programme (IBP) research there in the 1960s and '70s. He was an advocate of multidisciplinary research,...
12 November 2017
The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation. A Practical Guide and Case Studies by Díaz-Delgado, Lucas and Hurford is published by Springer
During recent decades, a rapid increase in available data sources has enabled researchers to develop hundreds of new remote sensing applications using data provided by new sensors attached to satellites, aircrafts and drones. However, a major challenge remains unresolved: how to transfer the k...
7 September 2017
This paper considers the benefits linking two approaches - Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) and Ecosystem Integrity (EI) - in the context of two global networks - ILTER and GEO BON.
The lead author, Peter Haase, along with many of the paper's co-authors, is involved in European LTER and it's development.
Abstract
Global change effects on biodiversity and human well-being call for improved long-term environmental data as...
18 July 2022
BioDT (Biodiversity Digital Twin for Advanced Modelling, Simulation andPrediction Capabilities) is a recently started HE project in which eLTER is closely involved.BioDT aims to enhance the predictive understanding of biodiversity dynamics by developing a Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT) providing advanced modelling, simulation and prediction capabilities. By exploiting existing technologies and data from relevant research infrastructures in new ways, BioDT will be able to accurately and quanti...
17 July 2022
eLTER would like to welcome three new people to its Head Office: Claudia Schuetze, Charlotte Wiederkehr and Uta Koedel.Claudia Schuetze has her background in physics and geophysics and held a professorship in electrical engineering. She has worked for the UFZ since 2009 and coordinated several geophysical research projects. Since 2017 she has led the implementation and coordination of the MOSES RI (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) of the German Helmholtz Community. This rese...
14 July 2022
Around 400 scientists visited the ENVRI booth during the EGU 2022 event in Vienna, lasting from 23 to 27 May. This marks a significant increase from the last physical EGU event where the booth was also visited by 400 people. However, this year the on site participants were over 2 times fewer than in 2019.eLTER was presented by its head of communication Kaloyan Konstantinov who was offering information about the RI, our brand new brochure, and a number of ENVRI goodies like a coloring book, Rubik...
27 May 2022
90 researchers from 26 countries, part of the eLTER PPP and eLTER PLUS projects, gathered in Mallorca from 16 to 20 May 2022 for the first ever consortia physical meeting.“This meeting was much needed and delayed with at least a year”, said Prof. Jaana Back, project co-coordinator, “Unfortunately, due to the pandemic measures, it was impossible to happen earlier”, added Dr. Michael Mirtl, eLTER co-coordinator.Indeed, the 5-day meeting was packed with sessions and discussions on a variety of impo...
27 April 2022
Over 600 researchers from all around the world gathered for the three eLTER Sites and platforms forum workshops on time series analysis. Based on the questionnaire results on training needs from sites, the first two workshops, led by Ulrike Obertegger (FEM-CRI, Italy), focused on time series analysis. They were open to everyone from students to researchers, independent of involvement in eLTER projects.These workshops gave an introduction to the challenges of time series data and demonstrated dif...
26 April 2022
The third meeting of the eLTER Interim Council (IC) was held virtually on January 27, 2022. All 18 countries were represented in the meeting, which decided on the ongoing process for eLTER Service Portfolio development and on the strategic goals of eLTER Integrated Governance.The eLTER PPP project did initial screening of over 230 service workflows that the RI can provide to identified stakeholder groups. Next, the work proceeds with careful mapping and prioritisation and detailed specification...
22 April 2022
The eLTER discussion paper on key standard observation variables (SOV) suggested 179 variables of importance to eLTER science. Now the eLTER PLUS project task 4.2 has identified data sources providing official statistics relevant for eLTER and has tested a way to make them available to the eLTER user community.The team systematically screened almost 30 main EU and global data platforms for statistical data relevant to SOV and identified 116 datasets related to 42 SOV. Based on the pilot phase an...
20 April 2022
Under the aegis of the University of Salzburg, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Environment Agency Austria, LTER-Austria and eLTER are organising a forum on “Potential and Challenges for GI Science in the context of Long-Term Ecosystem, critical zone and socioecological Research (eLTER)” at the GI_Salzburg22 on July, 5.The forum is aiming to provide information on eLTER and to show examples of using data compiled by the network to address different research questions, highlighting the sp...
15 April 2022
With our whole system, place-based approach, the eLTER RI is well placed toaddress some of the most pressing environmental problems facing Europe today. However, a single Research Infrastructure (RI) cannot hope to generate all the knowledge needed to build a sustainable future. Instead that knowledge has to come from multiple sources, including a range of RIs. Co-location of multiple RIs at the same physical location offers a unique opportunity to create actionable knowledge synthesized from th...
12 April 2022
The SMEAR site (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations) is situated in the Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station of the University of Helsinki, in southern Finland. The site consists of a managed, 60-year old boreal Scots pine forest stand, two open oligotrophic fen sites and a humic lake with a forested catchment. In addition to eLTER, the site belongs to the ICOS and ACTRIS infrastructures with four labelled ICOS stations and an ACTRIS labelling process currently beginning. There are a...
24 November 2022
Aarhus University is looking for an academic technician/research engineer with a PhD in aerosol physics/engineering to support the infrastructure around the AURA atmospheric simulation chamber. Candidates should contact Merete Bilde: bilde@chem.au.dk.Aarhus University currently has an open tenure track position in Atmospheric and Climate Chemistry.Several post doc and PhD positions will open soon. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact us in advance: - Aero...
14 November 2022
The OrGanic Tracers and Aerosol Constituents ‐ Calibration Center (OGTAC‐CC), hosted and operated by TROPOS ACD as one TC unit of the ECAC‐CAIS consortium, is announcing the following activity for all operators of ACTRIS NFs (observational and exploratory platforms), and former EUROCHAMP2020 members as well as to all other interested parties as users:Topic:Theory and practice ‐ determination of organic tracers and aerosol constituents from sampling to the final result demonstrated for the f...
14 November 2022
The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) is offering a permanent position for project leader at NILU's data centre.The position is permanent and linked to NILUs role as an international data center for atmospheric observations. NILU have strong ambitions to deliver open access to data and tailored services to support our users.You will contribute to further strengthen the Department for Atmospheric and Climate Research (ATMOS) project portfolio related to observation-based research on atm...
7 November 2022
As part of the AtmoTrace project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, there are currently three PhD positions available at the Center for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry (University College Cork, Ireland, https://www.ucc.ie/en/crac/).The project is trying to develop cavity enhanced absorption instrumentation for several applications reaching from laboratory developments, via atmospheric chamber studies, to airborne field campaigns. More information on the corresponding positions and applic...
13 October 2022
ACTRIS RI announced its TransNational Access call. ATMO-ACCESS provides opportunities for accessing 52 of the most advanced operational European atmospheric research facilities in Europe.The Third Call for TransNational Access is currently ongoing. A full list can be found here.If you are interested to benefit from the instruments, data, or other advantages of the most advanced operational atmospheric research facilities in Europe, please submit your application before January 5, 2023.More infor...
22 September 2022
Air pollution is a major and global concern, arising for the most part from human activities. Air pollutants can be emitted by a variety of sources or formed directly in the atmosphere. They alter the air we breathe and have clear negative effects on our health. But they also affect the Earth's climate and have a tremendous, often underestimated, impact on our economies. This 3-week course shares the basics of air pollution and its effects. During the first week, you will discover the major...
7 September 2022
Delft University of Technology has opened several positions for assistant professors in weather, climate and air quality sciences. Anthropogenic climate change is one of the major challenges mankind is facing. In the department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, within the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at TU Delft, the institution wants to understand the interaction between human activities, the Earth system, and our living environment. This is done through the combinati...
15 August 2022
The University of Trento opens the call for positions for the 38th Cycle (Academic Year 2022/2023) of the Doctoral Programme in Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering.The PhD project is called "SHALL – near Surface processes in High ALtitude Lakes" and will focus on gas exchanges, small-scale stratification and turbulent mixing in the surface layers of high altitude Alpine lakes.In preference, the candidate should:- hold a MSc in Physics, Environmental Engineering, Geophysics, or Oceano...
19 July 2022
The 30th session of ERCA is planned to take place in Grenoble and at the Observatoire de Haute Provence for 3 weeks from January 15th to February 2nd, 2023. ERCA is intended as a multidisciplinary course rooted in atmospheric and climate sciences, yet extending to the social aspects of global change and air quality, to hydrology and oceanography, and to environmental chemistry.The organisers "strongly believe that global change issues need international and pluridisciplinary teams to be adressed...
19 July 2022
As part of the AtmoTrace project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Center for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry (University College Cork, Ireland) has currently three PhD positions available focusing on the development of cavity enhanced absorption instrumentation for several applications reaching from laboratory developments, via atmospheric chamber studies, to airborne field campaigns. More information on the corresponding positions and application details can be found here:ht...