Christian von Sperber

Environmental Biogeochemistry

Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography

Office: Burnside Hall 613B
Tel.: (514) 398-7501
Fax.: (514) 398-7437
Personal Website
E-mail: chris.vonsperber [at] mcgill.ca

Academic and professional background

• Senior Scientist, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bonn, Germany (2016 - 2018)
• Postdoc, Department of Biology, Stanford University, USA (2014 - 2016)
• PhD, Department of Environmental Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2014)

Research interests

My research focuses on the biogeochemistry of phosphorus and nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems, with a special emphasis on soils. I am particularly interested in understanding how biogeochemical processes in soils change along environmental gradients. For this purpose, I often use stable isotopes as a tool to characterize and trace such processes, both, in controlled laboratory settings and in environmental systems.

Current projects

• The cycling of phosphorus and nitrogen in forest ecosystems

• The effect of land-use changes on soil nutrient pools

• The biogeochemistry of phosphorus along riparian buffer zones

Selected publications