July 19, 2017Central Switzerland is shaped by Lake Lucerne, which offers not only rich landscape diversity but also habitats for numerous animal species. As part of the Swiss-wide “Projet Lac” study, the lake’s fish fauna was surveyed for the first time using standardized quantitative methods – producing some surprising findings.
July 13, 2017If the wind blows away the warm surface waters of a lake, cold water flows in from the depths. As a result of this effect the temperature in Lake Geneva recently sank to 8 degrees. A project led by Eawag and EPFL had predicted this cooling event.
July 11, 2017Alexander Damm has been appointed by the University of Zurich as Assistant Professor tenure track for remote sensing of water systems, effective as of 1 August 2017. The joint professorship at Eawag and the University of Zurich will enable Eawag to broaden its competence and knowledge in the field of remote sensing.
June 28, 2017Eawag plays a key role in bridging between theory and practice. To strengthen its connection with the engineering sector in Western Switzerland (Romandie), Eawag has created a new group leader position within the Process Engineering Department. We interviewed the new group leader Nicolas Derlon on the possibilities and challenges of wastewater treatment in Western Switzerland.
June 28, 2017Flow cytometry has revolutionised the bacteriological assessment of water quality, and with its automation the revolution is progressing even further. Following his successful basic research into this area, a researcher at Eawag has become an entrepreneur.
June 21, 2017European eels (Anguilla anguilla) take three years to migrate from the spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea (east of Florida) to the coasts of Europe, where they grow to maturity. En route, they are guided by subtle local differences in the Earth’s magnetic field.
June 20, 2017A new business idea – the “Rainbow Biosystem” – developed by researchers at Eawag received the 3rd prize in the business plan category at the award ceremony for the »venture» start-up competition on 19 June.
June 13, 2017Environmental toxicologists at Eawag have developed new methods to allow tests on new chemicals to be carried out without the need for animal experiments. In place of the conventional experiments using adult fish, the team is now working with fish cells and fish embryos. These alternative methods have numerous advantages, and are seeing increasing demand in industry. This has given rise to an Eawag spin-off. We spoke to its founders.
June 8, 2017Biologist Florian Altermatt of the Aquatic Ecology department has been appointed Vice‑President of the Swiss Academy of Sciences’ Biodiversity Forum. Altermatt, who holds an SNSF professorship at the University of Zurich, is head of the Spatial Dynamics research group at Eawag.
June 7, 2017In freshwater lakes, large amounts of the greenhouse gas methane are oxidized by bacteria before it can be emitted into the atmosphere. A study in Lakes Rotsee and Zug has now shown that the bulk of this work is done, not by “classical” methane consumers, but by filamentous bacteria previously known only as contaminants of water supplies.
