Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences

The Department of Environmental Sciences is based at the Viikki campus in Helsinki and at the environmental campus in Lahti, thus forming a strong and broad university unit for environmental education and research. Research at the department covers both biologically and socially oriented environmental issues. Strong skills in both disciplines and cross-disciplinarity give a good basis for solution-oriented research and teaching based on the most recent environmental knowledge.

Within the department, the research of the Nutrient cycles in aquatic ecosystems group focuses on the coupled cycling of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon in aquatic environments, in particular the Baltic Sea and its coastal zone. Current projects include the EU-funded COCOA (Nutrient cocktail in coastal zones of the Baltic Sea), and the Academy of Finland-funded Biogeochemical links between climate change and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. In these projects, the group collaborates with colleagues in 8 different countries.

The group is led by Dr. Susanna Hietanen and includes Dr. Tom Jilbert plus Ph.D. and Masters level students working within the various projects. The group is currently looking to recruit one.