Environmental Award 2025 goes to Dr. Eva-Marie Metz
The Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation awards its Environmental Prize 2025 to Dr. Eva-Marie Metz from the Institute of Environmental Physics at Heidelberg University.
Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation
The Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation is awarding its Environmental Prize 2025 to Dr. Eva-Marie Metz from the Institute of Environmental Physics at Heidelberg University. The prize is awarded for her dissertation on processes of the global carbon cycle. The doctoral thesis makes visible for the first time how strongly dry soils react to the first rain and what influence this effect has on the global climate. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and is awarded annually for outstanding scientific work in the range of environmental research.
When rain meets dry soil: an underestimated CO₂ effect
Dr. Metz investigated semi-arid regions of the southern hemisphere, i.e. areas where it is very dry for long periods of time. Her research shows that as soon as the first rain falls after a dry period, the soil releases large amounts of CO₂ in the short term. This so-called "CO₂ pulse" has hardly been taken into account so far, but it plays a much greater role in the global CO₂ balance than previously assumed.
As arid regions make up around a third of the global land surface, Dr. Metz's findings help to better explain the fluctuations in atmospheric CO₂ levels and further develop climate models.
Scientific excellence impresses jury
The jury of the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE) particularly appreciated the fact that Dr. Metz did not look at her measurement data in isolation, but combined it with observations of ecosystems and model calculations of the biosphere. "The award-winning work impresses with its originality and high scientific level, but its gain in knowledge clearly goes beyond purely academic interest," says Prof. Dr. Thomas Rausch, Managing Director of the HCE. "Truly a scientific milestone."
"Dr. Metz's research shows how sensitively ecological systems react - and how important it is to have a good understanding of these relationships," says Andreas Zühlcke, Vice President Product Management and Marketing at ProMinent. "Such findings help us to make more sustainable decisions."
Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation: promoting young environmental research
The Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation has been committed to supporting young scientists for many years. In the spirit of Prof. Dr. h.c. Viktor Dulger, the late founder of the ProMinent Group, it donates an annual environmental award to promote outstanding work in the range of environmental research.
Picture:Prof. Tabea Bork-Hüffer (member of the HCE Board of Directors), Prof. Jale Tosun (member of the HCE Board of Directors), Andreas Zühlcke (as representative of the Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation), in the background the award winner Dr. Eva-Marie Metz, Dr. Sanam Vardag (laudator, Institute of Environmental Physics), Prof. André Butz (future Managing Director of the HCE), Prof. Thomas Rausch (member of the HCE Board of Directors).