goodwater

Institute of Groundwater Ecology

Capacities: The HMGU German Research Center for Environmental Health is member of the Hermann von Helmholtz Association of German National Research Centers and is managed as a limited non-profit company. Investigations are carried out in complex systems sustaining human life and health at the interface between environmental influences and genetic predisposition. The HMGU runs 25 scientific institutes. About 700 scientists, including PhDs, work in close linkage to the other Helmholtz Research Centers as well as external research partners.

Currently the HMGU has more than 70 contracts with the European Union, covering all the main areas of research within the institutes. This past experience places the HMGU in a strong position to meet all of the requirements expected of a contract coordinator in the large scale multi-national research efforts envisaged under FP7. The experienced officers of the Scientific Technical Department are responsible for general strategy and management. They will support the scientists in managing the flow of information, management consulting, cost calculation and general questions regarding the EC projects. Personnel, Legal and Finance Departments, as well as the Patents and Technology Transfer Unit, will professionally manage all administrative issues and will ensure the correct handling of the EC projects. Additionally, the EU Coordination Office of the Helmholtz Association in Brussels will provide a direct local contact point to assist the HMGU in implementing new European standards, structures and guidelines (e.g. Consortial Agreements). The Ascenion GmbH, which is an intellectual property asset management organisation, assists the researchers at the HMGU with IPR issues.

Within the HMGU, the Institute of Groundwater Ecology (IGÖ) is well embedded. Six interdisciplinary research groups together with one spin-off (Isodetect) are doing excellent research in the field of groundwater ecology on different aspects. Altogether, over 40 scientists, postgraduate students, and technicians work at the institute. In collaboration with institutions such as the IAEA, German Research Foundation, as well as Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMBF), research focuses on attenuation processes and the transport of pollutants in contaminated aquifers. The IGÖ is one of the leading institutes in the field of stable isotope analysis. Moreover, the institute provides an outstanding infrastructure consisting of a very well equipped isotope laboratory (GC-IRMS and LC-MS systems), an analytical laboratory for the analysis of different compound classes (HPLC, GC-MS, IC instrumentations), a specialised hydrochemical laboratory and a facility for excellent molecular biological work. Additionally, the institute provides a laboratory mesoscale aquifer model system.

The IGÖ was already successfully involved in the EC FP6 project SEDBARCAH and in several HELMHOLTZ-research programmes. The institute was also involved in several research and human capacity building projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the field of isotope hydrology. All fellows at HMGU will be embedded in the PhD student programme of the institute and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where the students have regular meetings with presentations of ongoing research and a regular journal club.

Rainer U. Meckenstock, who is director of the Institute of Groundwater Ecology (IGÖ) at the GSF, will coordinate the network closely cooperating with the Management Support Team of the GSF, which currently has 70 contracts with the European Union covering all the main areas of research within the GSF institutes. He heads the anaerobic degradation group and has fundamental experience in the field of anaerobic degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX, PAH, and naphthalene). With his group, he was able to describe a new initial activation mechanism of the aromatic ring system of naphthalene through methylation to 2-methyl-naphthalene. He did a pioneering study which quantified the extent of biodegradation through shifts in the stable carbon and hydrogen isotope ratios in the residual substrate fraction in batch experiments as well as in situ. He is further interested in iron reduction as a significant microbial respiration process involved in degradation of contaminants. The foreseen extent of involvement in percent of the full time employment of the GOODWATER ITN coordinator R.U. Meckenstock is 20%.

More scientific staff at GSF involved in training

Draženka Selesi is a senior scientist in the group of R.U. Meckenstock. She is an expert in molecular biology and especially working on proteomics of anaerobic PAH degradation. Christian Griebler is leader of the microbial ecology group and has longstanding experience in microbiology and groundwater ecology. His current research focuses on the spatial and temporal distribution of microbial activities related to contaminant degradation, as well as on the elucidation and critical determination of biological parameters useful for a qualitative evaluation of the “ecological status” of groundwater ecosystems. His group is experienced with laboratory model aquifer systems and high resolution multi-level sampling. Tillmann Lueders is head of the molecular ecology group. He is an expert in diverse molecular microbial ecology techniques, such as DNA- and rRNA-based stable isotope probing (SIP). His work focuses on the diversity, structure, and spatial distribution of microbial communities in groundwater ecosystems, and their importance for self purification activities and biogeochemical processes. His group develops and applies advanced tools for the targeted identification and quantification of microbial key-players in anaerobic aromatics degradation. Piotr Małoszewski is head of the transport modelling group. He is an expert in the development and calibration of mathematical models especially to determine and quantify different flow-paths, fluxes as well as for the estimation of transit time distribution functions. His research focuses on the development of new methods to understand and quantify the heterogeneity of the water system under unsaturated and saturated flow conditions. Martin Elsner heads the contaminant stable isotopes group which is pioneering stable isotope analysis of new contaminants. He is an expert in investigating their origin, transport and transformation by Compound Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA). Isotope fractionation patterns are interpreted with respect to underlying kinetic isotope effects so that observable stable isotope fractionation is for the first time directly linked to (bio)chemical transformation pathways. The foreseen extent of involvement in percent of the full time employment of the GSF researchers is 20% each.