News
Seminar and Colloquia
News
The Earth's Vulnerable Skin
(05.07.2018 08:53)From 12 August to 2 September 2018, 25 graduate students from 13 countries from geosciences and related disciplines will be working on processes on the surface of the earth. The participants will be taught by 11 lecturers under the direction of apl. Martin H. Trauth. The summer school is financed by the Volkswagen Foundation with 130,000 euros. The summer school is designed for doctoral students, aiming (1) to improve their skills to understand the complex interaction of the processes shaping the Earth's surface at different temporal and spatial scales, (2) to monitor, model and predict the results of these interactions, and (3) to identify and mitigate risks of natural and human-caused interference in these processes in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment. More: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/summercampus/e/esd.html
The occurrence of microplastics in surface waters surveyed by a novel detection method
(01.06.2018 16:12)The awareness of plastic debris in surface waters as environmental problem has been growing though a detailed quantification of its occurence in inland waters and understanding of underlying processes is still lacking behind. In a study by the Environmental Science Unit of the University of Potsdam together with the Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, an urban watercourse in Berlin could be investigated by surveys during several months. This was facilitated by a novel approach applying short-wave infrared imaging spectroscopy that was refined and used to detect number, size, and type of larger microplastic particles in the water samples taken. Concentrations of microplastic particles at the upper end of reported ones were found and identified mainly as polyethylen material. The results of this study are published in the journal Environmental Pollution and are available online as free access until 10th of June via the following link