News & Features

The coronavirus crisis has forced Nordic universities, including Stockholm University, to run their programmes largely online. Right now there are disruptions in the videoconferencing service Zoom throughout the Nordic region due to high usage in conjunction with the start of the spring semester. The interruptions can lead to longer response times, slow connection or choppy video streams. Users may also …

The Department of Environmental Science received a combined 59,4 million SEK (€5,8 million) in external research funding in fiscal year 2020. The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) and The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) awarded 11– and 19 million SEK (€1 million and €1,9 million), respectively, while 28 million SEK (€2,9 million) were awarded by …

Based on current pandemic situation and responsible authorities’ recommendations, the teaching at the Department of Environmental Science will take place online during the first half of the spring semester 2021 (January – March). This means that e-meeting service Zoom is used for lectures, workshops and seminars and learning platform Athena for other course specific communication. Information about the courses that …

In order to manage the mammoth task of reaching climate neutrality, researchers at the Department of Environmental Science along with colleagues from other departments are collaborating within the Stockholm University Environmental Council to produce a roadmap for bringing university emissions down to zero and become climate neutral by 2040. Last year, the university made a commitment to achieving climate neutral by 2040. …

Atmospheric aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air that represent one of the greatest uncertainties in our knowledge about climate change. Earth system models are the scientists’ best tool to forecast future scenarios of climate change but they require accurate information to produce reliable predictions. Now a new study by researchers at the Department of Environmental Science and colleagues …

The Stockholm University Virtual Master’s Fair will take place on 18 November and is a unique opportunity to meet online with admissions representatives, students and alumni to learn more about our programmes, the application process, and to get your questions answered. Join us from wherever you are to learn more about our master’s programmes taught in English. The event is …

Mercury is highly toxic to humans, where exposure can lead to, for example, developmental impairment among children, loss of motor function and senses, and even death. The most common route of mercury exposure is through ingestion of fish and seafood, in the form of monomethylmercury. Now, scientists at the Department of Environmental Science have discovered a pathway that could produce …

Current methods for risk assessment of persistent chemicals in aquatic sediments do not take into account the effect of bacterial communities on degradation. Now, a new study by researchers at the Department of Environmental Science and international colleagues, published in Environmental Science and Technology  shows that the composition of bacterial communities present in aquatic sediments influences how long chemicals can …

Professor Christina Rudén at the Department of Environmental Science has been selected as an observer to CARACAL, an expert group under the European Commission. Stockholm University is the only academic organisation in this important advisory group on chemicals. “To now be able to closely follow the decision-making process in the EU, we can directly contribute to the discussions with scientific knowledge and …

Twelve researchers from the Department of Environmental Science participate in the ISSS-2020 expedition on board a Russian research vessel to study the link between biogeochemical cycles and climate change. The international research team has recently observed emissions of methane gas from new systems in the Arctic seabed. Thawing permafrost and collapsing methane hydrates in the Siberian-Arctic coast could trigger increasing emissions …

Sea floor sediments of the Arctic Ocean can help scientists understand how permafrost responds to climate warming. A multidisciplinary team from Stockholm University has found evidence of past permafrost thawing during climate warming events at the end of the last ice age. Their findings, published in Science Advances, caution about what could happen in the near future: That Arctic warming …

An international team of scientists from the Department of Environmental Science and the Bolin Centre of Climate Research at Stockholm University, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), and the Paul Scherrer Institute’s Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry (PSI), both in Switzerland, has identified iodic acid as a novel driver of new aerosol particle formation in the Arctic during the …