Birgit Wild

Birgit Wild serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University. Her research focuses on Arctic climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles, with particular emphasis on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in permafrost regions. She maintains her office in Room R 511 at Svante Arrheniusväg 8 C, Geohuset, Stockholm.

Dr. Wild's primary research interests center on how climate warming affects carbon and nitrogen cycling in Arctic ecosystems. Her work investigates the mechanisms by which thawing permafrost releases greenhouse gases, with specific attention to plant-soil interactions ("priming effect"), carbon-nitrogen feedbacks on plant productivity, greenhouse gas release from subsea permafrost, nitrogen cycling and N2O production in Arctic Ocean shelves, and the transfer of permafrost-derived carbon along the land-river-ocean continuum. Her research integrates field studies across Siberian and Arctic regions with laboratory experiments and large-scale data synthesis.

Her publication record demonstrates a strong focus on understanding permafrost carbon dynamics under climate change. The most recent articles reveal significant contributions to understanding the resistance of peat soils to priming effects, temperature controls on lignin decomposition, nitrous oxide dynamics in Arctic waters, and molecular-level degradation of organic matter in Arctic shelf seas. Her work shows consistent attention to both terrestrial and marine components of the Arctic carbon cycle, with particular emphasis on how past warming events can inform our understanding of future climate-carbon feedbacks.

Dr. Wild leads and participates in multiple significant research projects including the Circum-Arctic Sediment Carbon Database (CASCADE), which curates data from the entire Arctic Ocean on organic carbon and related parameters; studies on ocean acidification in Siberian Seas; research on mercury remobilization from degrading permafrost; and projects examining plant-soil interactions in permafrost systems (NITROPRIME and PRIMETIME). She also works on quantifying methane emissions from subsea permafrost systems (SuPerTip project).

Her research methodology combines field sampling across Arctic regions, laboratory incubation experiments, molecular biomarker analysis, and isotope-based source apportionment techniques. This multi-faceted approach allows her to address complex questions about carbon and nutrient cycling across spatial and temporal scales in the rapidly changing Arctic environment.