Researchers who have recently joined the OCCR - September 2026:

Ilaria Espa has joined the OCCR as an associate member. Ilaria is an Associate Professor in International Economic Law at the Università della Svizzera italiana USI. Her research focuses on the intersection between climate change and international trade law.

Giulia Oliosi is a new PhD with the Climate Economics group. She completed her Master in Economics and Finance at the Milano Bicocca University with the thesis “Cluster analysis for compositional data with structural zeroes: the energy mixes' case”. 

Ertuğrul Nehri is a new PhD with the Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance (PEGO) group. He completed his Master in Political Science and Public Administration at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, with the thesis “Reconsidering Social and Economic Inequalities: A Critical Study on John Rawls’s Difference Principle”. His research focuses on how justice-based perspectives can inform public policy, particularly in the context of climate policymaking. In his PhD, he brings Rawlsian political theory into dialogue with the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF).

Alexandra Brönnimann is a new PhD with the Atmospheric Processes and Radiometry group. She earned her Master in Physics at the University of Bern. Her research focuses on emissivity testing for the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) mesh reflector, as well as the development of on-ground calibration targets. The working title of her PhD is “The Polarimetric Calibration for the CIMR mission”.

Mojan Marghoub Shadkar is a new scientific collaborator with the Geomorphology and Natural Hazards group. She completed her Master in Environmental Science, Natural Hazards and Risk at the University of Lausanne with the thesis “Spatio-temporal Analysis of PS-InSAR Data for Landslide Detection.” Mojan has developed a pedestrian evacuation model for touristic volcanoes, specifically the Indonesian volcanoes Marapi and Awu.

Jonas Woodtli is a new PhD with the Hydrology group. He holds a Master in Aquatic Sciences from the University of Lausanne with a thesis focused on alpine lake ecology. At the University of Bern, Jonas is working on the Alpine Genohydrology project. The project aims to explore what can be learned from aquatic eDNA data in a hydrological context.

Floriane Gabriel is a new PhD with the Climatology group. She completed her Master in Climate Sciences at the OCCR. In her thesis “Assessing Thermal Comfort Perception for Climate Mitigation in Lausanne” she focused on a participatory method to gather the population’s perception and expectation of urban heat and compare it with measured meteorological variables. Her PhD research explores this relationship further with a multi-sensory evaluation of urban climate mitigation methods in Zürich and, at a later stage, additional Swiss cities.

Mia El-Khazen is a new postdoc with the Global Biogeochemical Modelling group. She will implement new isotope tracers in the Bern3D model, to investigate abrupt changes of biogeochemical cycles during past climate change. Her work is part of the new ERC project BGCTip. Mia completed her PhD at Oregon State University, USA, where she looked at trace metal cycling in an ocean model.

Marie-Estelle Ölz is a new PhD with the Paleoecology group. She completed her Master in Archaeological Sciences and Human Evolution at the Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, with the thesis “When anthracology meets micromorphology: Interdisciplinary study of Eshkaft-e Qadi Barmshour, southern Zagros (Iran)”. Marie-Estelle is participating in the SNSF project ECO-ICE (see entry above). Her research interests encompass archaeobotany, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, human-environment interactions among other topics.

Massimo Novellino is a new PostDoc with the Paleoecology group. He completed his PhD in Geosciences at the University of Padua, Italy, with the thesis “Landscape evolution in Northern Adriatic regions in the Last Interglacial”. Massimo is participating in the SNSF project CIVES where helps depicting early urbanization dynamics in Southern Europe through palynological and palaeoecological investigations of natural archives.

Robin Wagner is a new PhD with the Soil Science group. Robin completed his Master in Natural Resource Management at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittgenstein, Germany, with the thesis “Impact of land-use on soil structure and ecological soil properties in a long-term field experiment”. His research focuses on soil organic carbon and the uncertainties coming along with its measurement caused by its spatiotemporal variability. The title of his PhD thesis is “Soil organic carbon stock and change assessment for carbon farming: reducing uncertainties and improving measurement approaches with soil organic carbon fractionation, IR-spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging.

Laura Zeh is a new PhD with the Laboratory for the Analysis of Radiocarbon with AMS (LARA). Lara completed her Master in Chemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin. She will investigate the fossil and non-fossil contributions to elemental and organic carbon in atmospheric particulate matter using radiocarbon-based source apportionment. The working title of her PhD is “Modeling the Interaction of Mineral Dust Particles of Different Chemical Composition”.

Philippe Hess is a new member of the Agriculture, Water and Climate Change group and scientific-technical employee at Agroscope, the Swiss center of excellence for agricultural research. He completed his Master in Environmental and Natural Resources at the Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften ZHAW. In his research, Philippe focuses on the translation of smart irrigation concepts into practical solutions for farms with limited infrastructure, intermittent connectivity, and constrained financial resources.

Gaëtan Martinelli is a new member of the Agriculture, Water and Climate Change group and scientific collaborator at Agroscope, the Swiss center of excellence for agricultural research. He has a Master degree in Water Sciences of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Québec, Canada. Gaëtan investigates regional and field-level modelling of agricultural water demand and crop irrigation requirements.

Micol Graglia is a new PhD with the Agriculture, Water and Climate Change group. Micol completed her Master in Environmental Engineering for Sustainability at Politecnico di Milano with the thesis "Tropical Wetlands as Moisture Engines: Tracking the Hydro-Climatic Impact of Degradation in the Pantanal and Momposina Depression". She will investigate agrohydrological modelling, climate extremes and their impacts on agricultural production systems, with a focus on climate adaptation, water management and sustainable agriculture.

Elisabeth Tanner is a new PhD with the Agriculture, Water and Climate Change group. She completed her Master in Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich with the thesis “How can sustainable intensification practices affect the environmental and socioeconomic performance of smallholder farms in southern Togo?”. Elisabeth research focuses on nitrogen dynamics in agroecosystems, with a particular interest in nitrogen losses, especially nitrate leaching, and how these are influenced by climate and management. The working title of her PhD thesis is “Quantifying cross-scale nitrate leaching from agricultural soils for informed nitrogen management”.