Kari Austnes

Kari Austnes holds an MSc in environmental chemistry and a PhD in biogeochemistry. Her research deals with how climate change, land use change and pollution from air and land affect water quality, via catchment processes. The main focus is on dissolved organic matter (DOM), acidification and nutrients. Now she works mostly with long-term data series and large regional data sets, but she has previously also worked with lab and field experiments. The whole gradient from headwaters to the coast belongs to her field of work. She has worked much with the use of sensor technology in monitoring and also has experience in catchment modelling. The projects range from basic research via applied research to monitoring and assessments for environmental management, the latter with topics such as liming, critical loads and classification under the Water Framework Directive.

She has a broad international network, amongst others through work under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Here she leads the programme centre of ICP Waters and is national representative in ICP Modelling & Mapping (units under the Convention working on effects of air pollution). She has worked for the European Environment Agency (EEA) for many years as part of the consortium which is now called the European Topic Center Biodiversity and Ecosystems. Here she works primarily with analyses of ecological status and nutrient levels in rivers and lakes on European scale.