Biography

1987 - 1990

Diploma in physics, University of Freiburg

1990 - 1994

Diploma in physics, University of Heidelberg; Diploma thesis at the Institut of Environmental Physics

1994 - 1999

Phd, first at University of Heidelberg, then at ETH Zürich, Switzerland

1998 - 2000

Physicist, Colenco Power Engineering, Baden, Schweiz

2000 - 2002

Research Fellow, Groundwater Protection and Restoration Group, University of Sheffield, UK

2002 - 2004

Senior Scientist, Institute for Terrestrial Ecology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2004 - 2009

Scientist at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany; as of 2008 head of hydrogeology unit

2009 -

Professorship for Water and Matter Transport in Landscapes, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam

Research

• Numerical modeling of flow and reactive transport in soil and groundwater
• Application of non-invasive imaging methods to study dynamic processes in porous media
• Plant-Soil-Groundwater interactions
• Variable density flow in porous media
• Integrated water ressources and soil management

Teaching

V&Ü Grundlagen der Stoffdynamik (WiSe, BSc Geoökologie)

S     Stoffdynamik (SoSe, BSc Geoökologie)

P     Geoökologisches Landschaftspraktikum, Teil zur Geländeklimatologie (SoSe, BSc Geoökologie)

V     Stoffhaushalt (WiSe, MSc Geoökologie)

V     Hydrogeologie/Subsurface Hydrology (SoSe, MSc Geoökologie & MSc Geowissenschaften)

V&Ü Praktische Modellierung I/Einführung in die Strömungsmodellierung (SoSe, DGÖ)

V&Ü Praktische Modellierung II/ Einführung in die Transportmodellierung (SoSe, DGÖ)

P     Field Course Grundwasser-Oberflächengewässer-Interaktion & Tracertechniken (SoSe, DGÖ)

V&Ü Non-invasive Imaging and Tomography methods for investigation of environmental processes (SoSe, DGÖ)

Mathematik-Vorkurs für Erstsemester

access to manuscripts via the moodle system

Publications

Peer-reviewed ISI-publications in 2011:

Rudolph, N., H. G. Esser, A. Carminati, A. B. Moradi, N. Kardjilov, S. Nagl, S. E. Oswald, 2012. Dynamic oxygen mapping in the root zone by fluorescence dye imaging combined with neutron radiography, Journal of Soils & Sediments, 12(1), 63-74, doi: 10.1007/s11368-011-0407-7.

Rivera Villarreyes, C., G. Baroni, S.E. Oswald, 2011. Integral quantification of seasonal soil moisture changes in farmland by cosmic ray neutrons, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 3843-3859, doi:10.5194/hess-15-3843-2011 (before in HESSD as doi:10.5194/hessd-8-6867-2011).

Mitreiter, I., S.E. Oswald, Frank Stallmach, 2011. Direct measurement of iron release, precipitation and turn-over in natural sands, Grundwasser, 16(4), 269-278, doi: 10.1007/s00767-011-0177-6.

Munz, M., S.E. Oswald, C., Schmidt, 2011. Sand box experiments to evaluate the influence of subsurface temperature probe installation on temperature based water flux calculation. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 3495–3510, doi:10.5194/hess-15-3495-2011.

Moradi, A., A. Carminati, D. Vetterlein, P. Vontobel, E. Lehmann, U. Weller, J. W. Hopmans, H.-J. Vogel and S.E. Oswald, 2011. Three-dimensional visualization and quantification of water content in the rhizosphere, New Phytologist, 192(3), 653–663, doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03826.x.

Balcke, G.U., M. Hahn, and S.E. Oswald, 2011. Nitrogen as an Indicator of Mass Transfer Kinetics during in-situ Gas Sparging, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 126(1-2), 8-18, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2011.05.005.

van Afferden, M., K. Z. Rahman, P. Mosig, C. De Biase, M. Thullner, S. E. Oswald, R. A. Müller, 2011. Remediation of groundwater contaminated with MTBE and benzene: The potential of vertical-flow soil filter systems, Water Research, 45(16), 5063-5074, doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.07.010.

De Biase, C., Daniel Reger, Axel Schmidt, Sven Jechalke, Nils Reiche, Paula M. Martinez-Lavanchy, Mònica Rosell, Manfred Van Afferden, Uli Maier, Sascha E. Oswald, M. Thullner, 2011. Treatment of volatile organic contaminants in a vertical flow filter: relevance of different removal processes. Ecol. Eng., 37, 1292–1303, doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.03.023.

Carminati, A., C. L. Schneider, A.B. Moradi, D. Vetterlein, H.-J. Vogel , A. Hildebrandt, U. Weller, L. Schüler, S.E. Oswald, 2011. How the Rhizosphere May Favor Water Availability to Roots, Vadose Zone Journal, 10(3), 988-998, doi: 10.2136/vzj2010.0113.

More cf. compendium (via ResearchID)

Peer-reviewed publications (Non-ISI, selected):

Al-Mashaiki K., G. Strauch, K. Osenbrück, T. Müller, K. Knöller, S. Oswald, 2011. Groundwater characteristic of the Najd aquifers, Oman, derived from isotope and hydrochemical signatures. Proc. GQ10: Groundwater Quality Management in a Rapidly Changing World. IAHS-AISH Publication, 342, 11-14.

Kalbus, E., S. Oswald, 'W. Wang, O. Kolditz, I. Engelhardt, M. Al-Saud, R. Rausch, 2011. Large-scale modelling of groundwater resources in an arid region.Red book of the GQ10: Groundwater Quality Management in a Rapidly Changing World. IAHS-AISH Publication, 342, 27-30.

Mitreiter, I., S.E. Oswald, and F. Stallmach, 2010. Investigation of Iron(III)-Release in the Pore Water of Natural Sands by NMR Relaxometry, The Open Magnetic Resonance Journal, 3, 46–51, doi: 10.2174/1874769801003020046.

Oswald, S.E., Watson, I.A., R.S. Crouch, and S.A. Banwart, 2006. Influence of modelling concepts and approaches on the results of field scale reactive transport modelling, Red book of the ModelCare 2005, IAHS-AISH Publication, 304, 100 – 107.

Oswald, S.E., Watson, I.A., R.S. Crouch, and S.A. Banwart, 2005. Applying a laboratory scale biodegradation concept to model field scale reactive transport with advanced numerical methods, IAHS-AISH Publication, 297, 517-524.

Oswald S.E., and W. Kinzelbach, 2000. A three-dimensional physical model for verification of variable-density flow codes, IAHS-AISH Publication, 265, 399 – 404.

Other publications (selected):

Drought-Related Shrinking Processes Detected in Living Roots in the Soil for the First Time. ScienceDaily (Dec. 3, 2009), http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091127124527.htm .

Oswald, S.E., 2005. “Modeling contaminant transport and biodegradation in groundwater” In: Lehr, J.H., Keeley, J., (Eds.): Ground Water, Water Encyclopedia 5, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 30-35, doi:10.1002/047147844X.gw716.

Oswald, S.E., K. Johannsen, R. Held, and W. Kinzelbach, 2004. Three-dimensional saltwater-freshwater fingering around a high permeability zone: insights of combining observed with numerical results, Proceedings of the "FEM, MODFLOW, and MORE" conference, Carlsbad, Czech Republic, 219 – 222.

Cai, Z., N. Thomson, S. Oswald, R. Wilson, and D. Lerner, 2003. Modelling of TCE reactive transport in a partly Fe⁰ filled fracture: Conceptual model and lumped parameter approach. Proceedings of the "MODFLOW and More 2003" conference, Golden, Colorado, 281 – 285.

Watson I.A., Bastian P., Crouch R.S., and S.E. Oswald, 2003. Multicomponent simulation of biodegradation applying locally adaptive remeshing and parallel processing. MODFLOW and more 2003. Understanding through modeling., Vol. 1 (Eds.: Poeter E, Zheng C, Hill MC, Doherty J), International groundwater modeling center, Denver, Colorado, US, 291-295.

Thornton, S., and S.E. Oswald (Editors), 2002. “Natural and Enhanced Restoration of Groundwater Pollution“, Red book of the “Groundwater Quality 2001” conference, IAHS Publication no 275.

Oswald, S.E., K. Johannsen and W. Huang, 2002. The importance of dispersive mixing for modelling of density-dependent and reactive transport, Computational Methods in Water Resources, Developments in Water Science, 47, Elsevier Health Sciences, Vol. 1, 501–506.

Watson, I.A., S. Oswald, and S.A. Banwart, 2002. Modelling Natural Attenuation Processes of Phenol Degradation in Groundwater, Computational Methods in Water Resources, Developments in Water Science, 47(1), Elsevier Health Sciences, 827–834.