Laura Summerauer

Dr. Laura Summerauer is a Researcher in soil science at ETH Zürich's Professorship for Soil Resources, specializing in tropical ecosystems and carbon cycling. Her research examines soil ecosystem services in eroding landscapes of the Eastern Congo Basin, investigating how topography, land use changes, and biogeochemistry affect soil fertility, carbon dynamics, and food production.

Research focuses:

• Tropical agro-ecosystem functioning
• Carbon and nutrient cycling mechanisms
• Soil infrared spectroscopy applications
• Statistical modeling of soil properties
• Land degradation impacts on soil services

Her recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on tropical soil carbon dynamics, spectral soil analysis techniques, and African soil fertility challenges. Work frequently employs advanced spectroscopic methods and geospatial modeling to assess soil degradation and carbon sequestration potentials.

Summerauer contributes to developing central African soil databases and promotes open soil science resources through her involvement in the TropSOC database project.