Dr. Dirk Sachse

Funktion und Aufgaben:
Senior ScientistWissenschaftliche Interessen:
My research is aimed at understanding the variability of biogeochemical cycles over different timescales (101 to 106 years), as the basis of life, human societies and ecosystems.
In particluar I am interested in the mechansims and consequences of short-term changes to the hydrological cycle, and the influence of surface processes (erosion, riverine transport, mass wasting) and tectonics (mountain range uplfit, earthquakes) on the short-term and long-term development of the carbon cycle.I apply and develop organic geochemical methods and use molecular and isotopic information to detect changes in these cycles and quantify fluxes.
Karriere:
2021 - today: Director Topic 5, Future Landscapes at GFZ2014 - today: Senior Scientist at GFZ Section 4.6 Geomorphology [tenured], Head of Organic Surface Geochemistry Lab
2009 - 2014: Emmy-Noether Research Group Leader at University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, Institute for Earth Sciences and Leibniz Center for Surface Process and Climate Studies
2007 - 2009: Postdoc, Leibniz Center for Surface Process and Climate Studies at University of Potsdam, Germany
2006 - 2007: Postdoc, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
2005: Postdoc Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
2005 Feodor-Lynen Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation to work with: Prof. Julian P. Sachs (MIT/ University of Washington) and Prof. Stjepko Golubic (Boston University)
Werdegang / Ausbildung:
2005 PhD in Biogeochemistry, University of Jena2002 - 2005 PhD student, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
2002 Diploma in Geology, University of Jena, Germany
1997 - 1998 Studies in Geology and spanish language, Universidad de Granada, Spain
1995 - 2002 Studies in Geology, University of Jena, Germany
Projekte:
SECCO Chile - The coupled vegetation, weathering, erosion, and sediment-export response to climate change unravelled from novel proxies in Chilean marine sediment (funding through a DFG grant within the EarthShape SPP) - collaboration with H. Wittmann (GFZ) and A. Bernhardt (FU Berlin). I am responsible for reconstructing vegetation and hydrology from marine and on-shore sediments using lipid biomarker C and H isotope ratios. With jointly supervised PhD student Néstor Eduardo Gaviria Lugo at GFZ.
STEEPclim - Spatiotemporal evolution of the hydrological cycle throughout the European continent during past abrupt climate changes (funding through ERC consolidator grant STEEPclim)
ROCcyle - The role of organic carbon in the global carbon cycle (funding includes Helmholtz association funding and through 2 PhD projects from the DFG-funded STRATEGY International Research Training Group)