Mathias Mayer

Dr. Mathias Mayer is a Lecturer at ETH Zurich since 2023, with prior postdoctoral roles at WSL (2020-2023) and BOKU Vienna. His research focuses on carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems, emphasizing soil microbial communities (particularly fungi) and their roles in plant-soil interactions. Mayer's work examines disturbances like windthrow, bark beetle infestations, logging, and climate change impacts across European Alps, Dinarian Mountains, Northern Scandinavia, and Himalayan forests.

• Key Research Areas: Forest disturbance ecology, mycorrhizal symbiosis, carbon flux modeling, microbial biogeochemistry
• Methodologies: Stable isotope analysis, DNA-based techniques, field experiments, meta-analyses

His recent publications reveal trends in post-disturbance carbon dynamics, fungal community shifts following windthrow, and interactions between defoliation events and soil processes. Mayer has received multiple awards including the UV-Forschungsstipendium (2019) and Walter Kubiena Forschungspreis (2017).

• Scientific Awards:
  • UV-Forschungsstipendium - Dissertation (2019)
  • Förderungspreis der Stiftung 120 Jahre Universität für Bodenkultur (2017)
  • Walter Kubiena - Forschungspreis (2017)
  • Dr.in Wilfrieda Lindner Wissenschaftspreis (2014)
  • Topstipendium für Niederösterreich (2010)

Mayer actively contributes as reviewer for journals like New Phytologist and Functional Ecology, and has chaired sessions at EGU General Assembly (2021) and GfÖ conferences (2018). His work bridges field experiments with computational modeling across alpine and boreal forest systems.