About us

The earth system is changing faster than ever before with direct impacts on people’s lives. The world is ever more aware of the influence our activities are having on the environment with Sweden becoming the first country to establish an environmental protection agency, already in 1967.

In line with Sweden’s reputation as an environmental pioneer, our ambition is to contribute to a healthy and sustainable society through world-leading research and education in environmental science. Our department is home to scientists from diverse backgrounds in the natural sciences and we prides ourselves on our open research environment that fosters collaboration and professional growth for everyone involved.

The key to solving the major environmental challenges of today is to understand them. Our research spans across four major areas: chemical contaminants, atmospheric science, biogeochemistry and (eco)toxicology. Besides the environments of Sweden and Europe, we also focus on complex global systems using state-of-the-art facilities, and modern modelling and data analysis platforms. In addition to our core responsibilities in teaching, research, and outreach, we strongly engage in supporting Swedish and European environment agencies with their decision-making and policy drafting.

Spanning two locations including our historic Frescati campus, and recent integration at Science for Life Laboratory, Campus Solna, we are now a team of approximately 170 faculty members, researchers, doctoral students and support staff from over 30 countries. Working together, we have consistently ranked among the top 30 educational institutions in the world in environmental science and our alumni have secured prestigious roles as policy makers, environmental consultants, and researchers.

We are working tirelessly each day to ensure a healthier environment, a happier society, a hopeful future!

 

Units

The Department of Environmental Science is divided into 4 units.

The life cycle and impact of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols – both indoors as well as outdoors.

Our work is, for the most part, interdisciplinary and aims at understanding the composition of air and its influence on climate and human health. The majority of our research activities focus on understanding the life cycle and impact of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols – both indoors as well as outdoors. Aerosols have implications not only for climate but on human health as well. We also support and encourage active interaction between researchers and policymakers through hosting the Air Quality Reference Laboratory (in collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency), organizing events and activities for various stakeholders, as well as participating in expert groups, committees and boards, both at home and internationally. We offer advanced courses at the MSc and PhD levels as well as a joint BSc programme in environmental physics in collaboration with the Department of Physics at Stockholm University.

Biogeochemical cycles under anthropogenic change.

In the Biogeochemistry Unit, we study the cycles of carbon, nutrients and trace elements on land, in water and in the atmosphere, and their interaction with human activities. Our research integrates large-scale field studies from the Arctic to the tropics with molecular and isotopic tools, statistical and modelling approaches, to quantify key processes of the Earth System, track natural and anthropogenic changes, and predict the impact of perturbations such as climate change on these processes and resulting feedbacks.  We teach bachelor and master level courses on biogeochemical cycles and their interaction and feedbacks with climate change and other anthropogenic perturbations, including in the master program in Environmental Science - Atmosphere, Biogeosphere and Climate.

Pollutants in the environment: Where they come from, where they go, and who gets exposed.

In Contaminant Chemistry we study all aspects of the occurrence of pollutants in the environment. Areas of particular focus include the discovery of new contaminants, understanding the chemical, physical and biological pathways that contaminants follow, and the development of novel tools and techniques. We strive to synthesize our scientific understanding about the sources, transport, transformation, bioaccumulation and pharmacokinetics of environmental contaminants into mathematical models that inspire new scientific hypotheses, and support environmental decision-making.

Exposure and effects of chemical contaminants on living organisms.

The primary aim of our research is to improve the understanding of exposure to chemicals of emerging concern and their effects on living organisms. We identify and quantify these chemicals in the environment, their uptake and disposition in organisms, and ultimately examine their effects, from the molecular level up to the functioning of entire ecosystems. Our studies integrate experimental and modelling approaches, field monitoring, and builds bridges between environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, stress ecology, molecular biology and ecophysiology. We furthermore study how exposure and effect data are used for agency decision-making and we develop novel approaches to facilitate the use of scientific data in regulatory risk assessment and risk management. We work closely with national and international regulatory agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to address current environmental problems.

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