Nele Schuwirth

Current projects

Integrated management of river water quality (iWaQa)

Mechanistic modelling of the benthic community in rivers

Decision support for surface water management

Research interests

• Construction of mechanistic models of biogeochemical and ecological processes in river ecosystems. Use of these models for improving our understanding of processes in these systems and for the prediction of expected effects resulting from measures or changing exterior influence factors. Application of Bayesian techniques for the assessment of the identifiability of model parameters with inclusion of prior knowledge and available measured data
• Multicriteria decision support techniques (MCDA)
• Soil and groundwater protection, behaviour of inorganic contaminants in the environment, thermodynamic modelling of hydrochemical processes, application of soil water sampling techniques and leaching tests for the assessment of contaminated sites

Teaching

Modelling of aquatic ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Course 701-0426-00, Summer Semester 2007 and spring semester 2008 and 2009

Environmental Systems Analysis, ETH Zürich, Course 701-1361-00, Autumn Semester 2007

Education

since 2006    Postdoctoral research position in the group „Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling“ (Eawag)

2002-2006    PhD student in the group “Hydrogeology” (Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz), Thesis: „The release of zinc and lead from mine tailings”

1996-2002    Study of Geology (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany)

Diploma thesis in Applied Geology: „Leaching behaviour of recycled demolition waste materials”

Scientific Publications

Schuwirth, N., Reichert, P., Lienert, J.: Methodological aspects of multi-criteria decision analysis for policy support: A case study on pharmaceutical removal from hospital wastewater. European Journal of Operational Research (in press)

Reichert, P., Schuwirth, N.: Linking statistical bias description to multi-objective model calibration (submitted to Water Resources Research, under review)

Langhans, S.D., Lienert, J., Schuwirth, N., Reichert, P.: Linking original assessment programs with decision analysis theory fosters integral river assessment and management: case study for hydromorphology (in prep) 

Rinderknecht, S.L., Albert, C.,  Borsuk, M., Schuwirth, N., Künsch, H.R.,  Reichert, P.: The Effect of Imprecise Prior Knowledge on Bayesian Model Parameter Inference and Prediction (in prep)

Lienert, J.,  Koller, M., Konrad, J., McArdell, C.S., Schuwirth, N. (2011): Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis Reveals High Stakeholder Preference to Remove Pharmaceuticals from Hospital Wastewater. Environmental Science & Technology 45, 3848-3857.

Schuwirth, N., Acuña, V., Reichert, P. (2011): Development of a mechanistic model (ERIMO-I) for analyzing the temporal dynamics of the benthic community of an intermittent Mediterranean stream. Ecological Modelling 222, 91-104.   doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.09.013

Reichert, P., Schuwirth, N. (2010): A generic framework for deriving process stoichiometry in environmental models, Environonmental Modelling and Software 25, 1241-1251.

Schuwirth, N., Kühni, M., Schweizer, S., Uehlinger, U., Reichert, P. (2008): A mechanistic model of benthos community dynamics in the River Sihl. Switzerland. Freshwater Biology 53, 1372-1392.

Hofmann, T., Schuwirth, N. (2008): Zn and Pb release of sphalerite (ZnS)-bearing mine waste tailings. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 8 (6), 433-441.

Schuwirth, N., Voegelin, A., Kretzschmar, R., Hofmann, T. (2007): Vertical Distribution and Speciation of Trace Metals in Weathering Flotation Residues of a Zinc/Lead Sulfide Mine. Journal of Environmental Quality, 36 (1), 61-69.

Schuwirth, N., Hofmann, T. (2006): Comparability of and Alternatives to Leaching Tests for the Assessment of the Emission of Inorganic Soil Contamination. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 6 (2), 102-112.

Schuwirth, N., Hofmann, T. (2006): Methods for Metal Release Assessment in Soil Water at Anoxic Sites. Acta Hydrochimica et Hydrobiologica 34 (6), 579-586.

Other Publications

Reichert, P. Schuwirth, N., Langhans, S. (2011): MCWM - Ein Konzept für multikriterielle Entscheidungsunterstützung im Wassermanagement. Wasser Energie Luft, 103 (2), 139-148.

Schuwirth, N., Reichert, P. (2009): Modelling of benthic communities in rivers. Eawag News 66, 19-21.