Lab News

We warmly welcome Giovanni Baccolo as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 October 2022.

On 26th September 2022 Jérôme Gabathuler successfully defended his PhD entitled “The thickness of the quasi-liquid layer on ice and its interaction with atmospheric gases as seen by X-ray absorption and photoelectron spectroscopies" at ETH Zürich.

We warmly welcome Luca Longetti to the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry.

On 7th April 2022 Shuzhen Chen successfully defended her PhD entitled “Multiphase kinetics and chemistry at halide solution-air interfaces" at ETH Zürich. 

On 10th November 2021 Huanyu Yang successfully defended his PhD entitled “Hydrogen Bonding structure of Water at Interfaces relevant for ice nucleation" at ETH Zürich. 

Picture: Huanyu Yang with supervisor Markus Ammann.

We warmly welcome Antoine Roose as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Surface Chemistry group on 1 September 2021.

 

We warmly welcome Céline Blétry in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. She joined the Surface Chemistry group on August 9, 2021 as apprentice. 

We warmly welcome Lucia Iezzi as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. She has joined the Surface Chemistry group on 1 November 2020.

We gladly announce that Fabian Mahrt has started to work as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He formally joined the Surface Chemistry group on 1 August 2020 but has started his work actually at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada.

On 2 June 2020 Ling successfully defended her PhD entitled “Radiocarbon analysis of dissolved organic carbon from ice cores" at the University of Bern. This was the first time that a student from our lab defended online and Ling delivered a great performance. Congratulations! The project was conducted in collaboration with the Laboratory for the Analysis of Radiocarbon with AMS (LARA) of the University of Bern, Nanjing University, and the University of Maine, amongst others, and funded jointly by the University of Bern and the Paul Scherrer Institute.

We warmly welcome Kevin Kilchhofer as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Surface Chemistry group on 1 June 2020.

Kevin Kilchhofer studied Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the ETH Zurich, with a focus on atmospheric chemistry and physics. For his master thesis, he investigated the impact of cloud processing on the ice nucleation ability of aerosol particles.

At PSI, Kevin Kilchhofer will investigate the feedbacks between photochemically induced peroxy radical chemistry and the evolution of composition in viscous secondary organic aerosol proxies using a suite of flow tube and aerosol mass spectrometry techniques, accompanied by radially resolved modelling of physical and chemical processes.

We warmly welcome François Burgay as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 November 2019.



François Burgay studied Environmental Chemistry at the University of Turin and got his PhD in science and management of climate change from the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. In his Phd project he developed new analytical techniques for iron speciation in ice cores.

At PSI, François Burgay will determine the chemical composition and sources of organic aerosols in the pre-industrial and industrial atmosphere by analyzing molecular markers in ice cores from Europe and the Central Asian Altai, applying sensitive liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry.

We warmly welcome Carla Huber as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. She joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 October 2019.



Carla Huber studied Chemistry at the ETH Zurich, with a focus on organic chemistry. For her master thesis, she investigated solvent effects on the binding of lysine and arginine to proline rich cyclic receptors.

At PSI, Carla Huber will investigate the preservation, stability and potential contamination of molecular markers in snow and ice through analysis of snow pit and simultaneous long-term atmospheric aerosol samples from the same site using state-of-the-art high-resolution organic mass spectrometry.

We warmly welcome Tatjana Münster as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. She joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 September 2019.



Tatjana Münster studied Earth Sciences with a focus on palaeoclimatology, sedimentology, palaeoenvironmental, dynamics, and isotope geochemistry. She received her BSc from the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz and her MSc from the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg.

At PSI, Tatjana Münster will characterize the performance of a new ICP-TOF mass spectrometer for trace element analysis in ice cores, obtain a trace element record using this instrument from an Alpine ice core, and reconstruct the history of Saharan dust transports and heavy metal pollution from metallurgy over the last 2000 years.

We warmly welcome Yohei Uemura as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Surface Chemistry group on 1 July 2019.



Yohei Uemura got his master and PhD degree in chemistry at the University of Tokyo. He has then continued on an academic career path at different universities in Japan and last at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His speciality is the application of fast and ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques to follow the chemical dynamics of reactions. At PSI, Yohei Uemura will study the photolysis of organo-iodide compounds and the fate of primary and secondary iodine products in aqueous solutions at the SwissFEL and the SuperXAS beamline.

Join me in welcoming Yanisha, our new PhD-student in Markus Ammann's group.



Yanisha got her master in chemistry at the university of Berne. During her master thesis, she worked on "Scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of a thioacetate-functionalized aromatic molecule on metal substrates”. At PSI, Yanisha Manoharan will be studying the kinetics of nitrate photochemistry in ice samples. Her thesis work is part of the SNF funded project entitled "Interfacial Chemistry of Ice: Photolysis and Acid-Base Equilibria in the QLL and Brine“.

We warmly welcome Thomas Singer as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. He joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 March 2019.



Thomas Singer studied Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich, with a focus on biogeochemistry processes and pollutant dynamics. For his master thesis he investigated controlling factors for leaf gas exchange.

At PSI, Thomas Singer will determine the composition and sources of the bulk organic matter in the pristine, pre-industrial atmospheres, and quantify the influence of the human activity thereon, by analysing well-dated glacier ice cores utilizing innovative techniques such radiocarbon analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry.

On 31 January 2019 Sven successfully defended his PhD entitled “Impact and Implications of Melting on the Preservation of Trace Elements in High-Alpine Snow and Glacier Ice" at the University of Bern. Congratulations! This thesis formed part of the collaborative project Microscale Distribution of Impurities in Snow and Glacier Ice (MiSo) in co-operation with LUC's Surface Chemistry research group and the WSL-SLF Davos. The project was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Dimitri successfully defended his PhD at the University of Bern, entitled "Reconstruction of forest fires through chemical analysis of black carbon in ice cores from high- alpine glaciers". This thesis formed part the collaborative project paleo fires with ETH Zürich and University of Bern funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The evening news on Swiss national television, SRF Tagesschau on Saturday evening 19h30, featured LUC's research on regional climate change with a story on the cause of glacier melting at the end of the Little Ice Age in Switzerland.

Jacinta Edebeli successfully defended her PhD with the title "Multiphase Chemical Reactivity in Cold Regions" at the ETHZ. Congratulations! The thesis was part of the MiSo project in co-operation with LUC's Analytical Chemistry research group and the WSL-SLF Davos. The project was jointly funded by Swiss National Science Foundation.

We warmly welcome Martina Barandun as Postdoc in the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry. She joined the Analytical Chemistry group on 1 October 2018.



Martina Barandun studied Geography at the University of Fribourg, where she also obtained her PhD in the Department of Geosciences. For the latter she worked on transient snowline observations to remotely derive seasonal to sub-seasonal glacier mass balance in the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains of Central Asia. At PSI, Martina Barandun will quantify the concentration of different light absorbing impurities such as black carbon or mineral dust particles in surface snow and ice from various glaciers in Central Chile, to estimate their impact on albedo reduction and accelerated melt. This is a joint project with the Centro de Estudios Cientificos in Valdivia, Chile.

Pablo successfully defended his PhD at the University of Bern, entitled "Impact of indirect photochemistry of Brown Carbon and iron carboxylate complexes on gas and aerosol chemistry". This thesis formed part of collaborative project with ETH Zürich on the feedbacks between microphysics and photochemistry in organic aerosols funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The New York Times features LUC's ice core research with a story on how pollen frozen in Alpine ice traces Europe’s calamities, since the time Macbeth ruled Scotland. The image shows Arnold Böcklin painting: Die Pest, Tempera auf Tannenholz (1898, Kunstmuseum Basel)

Join me in welcoming Jérôme, our new PhD-student in Markus Ammann's group.



He got his master in applied physics at the EPF Lausanne. During his master thesis, he worked on "Solar water purification using photocatalysis with a novel TiO2 nano-porous aerogel“. At PSI, Jérôme Gabathuler will be studying the surface of ice samples using X-ray excited electron spectroscopy at the Near Ambient Pressure Photoemission (NAPP) endstation at SLS. His thesis work is part of the SNF funded project entitled "Interfacial Chemistry of Ice: Photolysis and Acid-Base Equilibria in the QLL and Brine“.

During this year's excursion we experienced the underground world on a guided tour through the Gonzen iron mine in Sargans. While walking up and down the impressive system of galleries and tunnels the extreme working conditions of the miners became palpable. After the 3.5 hours underground we happily returned to our labs at PSI.

Anna Dal Farra successfully defended her PhD at the University of Bern, entitled "Effect of light-absorbing impurities on the albedo of the Alpine glacier Plaine Morte". The project was jointly funded by the University of Bern and the Paul Scherrer Institut.

Join me in welcoming Anthony, our new postdoc, jointly affiliated with Markus Ammann’s Surface Chemistry group (Surface Chemistry) and within the Electrochemistry Laboratory (Laboratory of Electrochemistry), the group for Electrocatalysis and Interface headed by Prof. Thomas Schmidt under the supervision of Emiliana Fabbri.



He obtained his PhD from the University of Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, in the Laboratory of Chemical Physics – Materials and Radiation. The title of his dissertation was “Catalytical Reactions and Environmnetal Chemistry Modifications as seen by Synchrotron Radiation NAP-XPS”. He is trained in surface chemistry and surface analysis methods.



At PSI, Anthony Boucly will be studying the electrochemical interaction between electrolytes and metal oxides relevant for electrochemical applications and for the weathering of mineral dust particles in the atmosphere with X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy at the Near Ambient Pressure Photoemission (NAPP) endstation at SLS.