On May 2, we welcomed a team of the GFF NÖ at the WasserCluster Lunz. The group around managing director Barbara Schwarz got an impression of the research work at the institute from the working group leaders and could get a picture of the infrastructure and current projects.

Photo: © GFF NÖ

ICP Waters, the International Cooperative Program for assessment and monitoring of the effects of air pollution on rivers and lakes, held its annual Task Force Meeting this time at WasserCluster Lunz from May 09-11. On-site and online, international policy makers and researchers participated to discuss the latest results of the LTRAP Convention and agree on priorities for the following year.

We congratulate Anna-Lisa Dittrich on her master thesis "The impact of woodchips and biochar on nutrient retention in agricultural streams". She successfully defended it on March 17, 2023 under the supervision of Gabriele Weigelhofer at BOKU. Her work was carried out at WasserCluster Lunz and deals with the use of bioreactors made of woodchips or activated carbon for the removal of dissolved nitrogen from agriculturally polluted waters.

On January 26th and 27th our annual hybrid meeting with the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) took place at WasserCluster Lunz.  The eight members of the Scientific Advisory Board discussed future scientific projects with the working group leaders at the WCL as well as with students in small groups about funding opportunities and possibilities to improve workflows and time management.

The working group AquaScale at WasserCluster Lunz wins the Ferry Starmühler Prize. With the expose of her master thesis Carina Leimhofer won the prize for the promotion of research on freshwater organisms for young scientists. With her topic: "Salinization of inland waters and effects on their phytoplankton communities", she was ceremoniously awarded the prize on 25. 1. 2023 at the Haus des Meeres Vienna.

RESTORE4Cs, a freshly started project led by the University of Aveiro and with participation of the Carbocrobe group at WCL, will address management and restoration actions to maintain and promote the mitigation and adaptation capacity of European wetlands to climate change, while focusing on coastal wetlands and providing innovative tools and methodologies for decision making and restoration planning and actions.

The project at the interface of science and education, funded by GFF Lower Austriaaims to increase understanding of science, raise interest in science and positively influence attitudes towards scientific knowledge with the help of innovative mediation methods. The partnership includes: WasserCluster Lunz (project management), Austrian Competence Center for Didactics of Biology at the University of Vienna, Lower Austrian University of Education, partner schools (BORG Wr. Neustadt, VS and MS Lunz), the Haus der Wildnis Lunz and the Lower Austrian Education Region 3.

At the WasserCluster Lunz we are looking for a dedicated