Research

Global warming is occurring three times faster in the Arctic compared to the rest of the World. Many parameters affect the Arctic climate, including marine volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Marine VOCs are oxidized in the atmosphere forming aerosols. Globally, aerosols have a net cooling effect due to their ability to scatter light and their implication on formation and lifetime of clouds. However, the implications of aerosols on the Arctic climate remain unknown. By improving the knowledge of aerosols and precursors, better inputs can be made in climate models which can determine their implication on the Arctic climate as well as improve future predictions of the climate.

We investigate Arctic marine aerosol and water samples using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and VOCs using  thermal desorption gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS).

Plastic pollution is widely distributed in the environment and has been detected in oceans, rainwater, freshwater, lake sediments, soil, wildlife and in the human body. Recently, the presence of airborne microplastic particles has been discovered. However, sources and concentrations of atmospheric microplastics are poorly understood. A new hypothesis is that the ocean may act as a source of airborne microplastic particles via sea spray generation.

We are developing an analytical method to detect and quantify micro- and nanoplastics using pyrolysis gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS), and apply this method to investigate ocean-atmosphere transfer of microplastics.

Plants actively communicate with their environment, both above and below ground. These interactions involve neighbouring plants as well as various soil organisms, and play a crucial role in shaping plant growth, competition, and adaptive responses.

Our research focuses on belowground communication, particularly plant-microbe interactions, using a metabolomics-based approach. We investigate how beneficial soil bacteria, especially diazotrophs, contribute to nitrogen availability in cereal crops, with the aim of reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and supporting more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems.

To achieve this, we employ Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS), specifically Orbitrap and Q-ToF MS. We analyze metabolite profiles from root exudates, as well as from root and shoot tissues, to link chemical signals with biological functions in plant-microbe interactions.

This project focuses on organosulfates, an important yet still insufficiently understood class of compounds in atmospheric aerosols. It aims to elucidate their sources, formation mechanisms, and environmental effects, thereby addressing key scientific questions regarding their true abundance and role in the atmosphere. Although recent studies have shown that organosulfates are widespread in ambient aerosols and may play an important role in secondary organic aerosol formation, particulate chemical composition, and climate effects, their accurate quantification and environmental assessment remain highly challenging. This is largely due to their substantial chemical diversity, the scarcity of authentic standards, and the widespread presence of chromatographically unresolved components.

The project will pursue three main objectives. First, it will systematically investigate the sources and formation mechanisms of different types of organosulfates, examining their production under varying precursor systems, oxidation conditions, and environmental scenarios in order to better understand their chemical evolution in the atmosphere. Second, it will develop new quantitative methods for organosulfates that overcome the current limitations of relying on only a small number of standards and chromatographically resolved species, and establish a strategy applicable to complex environmental samples, including the unresolved organosulfate fraction. Third, it will assess the environmental effects of organosulfates, with a particular focus on their light-absorbing properties in atmospheric particles and their contribution to brown carbon optical characteristics and aerosol radiative effects.

By integrating molecular-level characterization, quantitative method development, and environmental effect assessment, this project will help resolve several key uncertainties surrounding organosulfates, improve our understanding of their role in atmospheric chemistry and the climate system, and provide a stronger scientific basis for more accurate evaluations of aerosol environmental and climate effects.

Multivariate data analysis is a way to find patterns in large and complex datasets. Instead of looking at one thing at a time, it examines many factors at once — like temperature, pH, and the concentration of different substances in a sample.

It’s a bit like listening to an entire symphony instead of just one violin. By exploring how different measurements relate to each other, we can uncover hidden trends, group similar samples, or predict the properties of new ones.

In ACE, multivariate analysis is used to find patterns in root exudates from plants and in both air and water samples from the Arctic — anywhere large amounts of data need to be understood as a whole.