News

An interdisciplinary study from the University of Bern involving Adrien Mestrot and Teresa Chávez-Capilla reveals that gut bacteria play a crucial role in converting arsenobetaine into toxic arsenic compounds. Results show that arsenobetaine, commonly found in seafood and previously considered harmless, is partly transformed into toxic arsenic compounds by the action of gut bacteria in the mammalian body. These findings raise new questions about the safety of seafood consumption.

Call for contributions

29 September – 1 October 2025
at Thünen Institute of Biodiversity, Braunschweig, Germany (and hybrid)

This workshop provides a vibrant platform for exchanging ideas, fostering synergies, and connecting researchers engaged in archetype analysis in sustainability research. Participants will have a unique opportunity to:

• Share and discuss cutting-edge research, including empirical findings, theoretical advancements, and methodological innovations.
• Collaborate on joint papers, research proposals, and special issues in interactive breakout sessions.
• Present new research ideas to inspire collaboration and shape future projects

The European Geosciences Union, EGU, runs series of scientific blogs that shed light on latest scientific development in the divisions. Written for a larger public, they offer a unique opportunity to get in touch with a wide range of geosciences topics. Bettina Schaefli is the editor in chief of the Hydrology Blog, which nominated their blog post on "Water walks for gathering social sciences data".
Hydrology Blog: see here

Please have a look on the nominated posts from all divisions and vote for your favourit post here: Link

PhD Elena Grace Siegrist has received the 2^nd prize of the Young Academic Award 2024 of the Alpine Convention for her Master's thesis ‘Landscapes in a changing climate – Evaluation and illustration of the impacts of climate change on landscapes in Switzerland using the case study landscape Ramosch (GR)’ (supervised by Matthias Bürgi and Karina Liechti)..
Congratulations to her!

Young Academic Award 2024

This year's prize for the best Master's thesis in Geosciences goes to Daniela Friebel for her work on thermal perception in two districts in the city of Bern. She mapped places of comfort and discomfort during periods of summer heat from the perspective of the residents of the neighborhoods. The resulting maps provide unusual insights into the perception of urban space.

Dr. Holger Heisig (swisstopo)
Colloquium in Climate Impact, Remote Sensing, Geocomputation, Cloud Dynamics and Climatology
(14:15 – 15:15, seminar room 016, Mittelstrasse 43 / Uni Mittelstrasse or Zoom Room: Link)
To participate via Zoom, a password is required. The password can be requested via e-mail.

Soup Lunch and Workshop – Bring your own plate & cutlery to help us reduce waste – so please come with colleagues and students to this event! 
(12:00 – 13:30, Foyer, GIUB)

Prof. Dr. Julie De Dardel (Université de Genève)
Berner Humangeographisches Kolloquium
(14:15 – 15:45, room 002, GIUB)

Organized by the Units:
Social and Cultural Geography / Economic Geography /
Critical Sustainibility Studies /
Political Urbanism and Sustainable Spatial Development /
Geographies of Disasters
in cooperation with the mLAB of the Institute of Geography