Bernhard Pucher

Bernhard Pucher is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Sanitary Engineering, Industrial Water Management and Water Pollution Control (SIG), within the Department of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). He holds a doctorate in technical natural sciences and is actively leading and participating in multiple research projects focused on urban water management and nature-based solutions.

His research interests lie at the intersection of urban sustainability and environmental engineering, with a strong focus on urban water management, circular economy, nature-based solutions, treatment wetlands, vertical greening systems, and greywater treatment. His work emphasizes process-based modeling of water and solute transport, particularly using the HYDRUS software, to optimize the design and performance of decentralized water treatment systems.

The recent articles highlight a consistent trend in developing and evaluating nature-based technologies for sustainable urban water cycles. Key themes include the performance assessment of vertical and horizontal flow wetlands, numerical modeling for design optimization, the multifunctionality of green walls for cooling and water reuse, and the integration of blue-green infrastructure into circular city frameworks. His research bridges technical modeling with practical implementation, aiming to quantify resource recovery and improve urban resilience.

• Board member of the IWA national committee Austria (2023)
• Member of the Management Committee, IWA Specialist Group on 'Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control' (2019)
• Active reviewer for journals including Chemical Engineering Journal, Science of the Total Environment, and Water Science and Technology
• Served on scientific advisory boards for major conferences like WETPOL and IWA ecoSTP

He has supervised numerous master’s theses on topics such as greywater use for vertical greening, treatment performance of living walls, and modeling of rainwater use. His projects are funded by diverse sources including the European Commission (Horizon), FFG, national companies, and private foundations, demonstrating strong grant acquisition capability. He is also involved in knowledge transfer through public reports, media contributions, and participation in policy-relevant seminars.

Bernhard Pucher is a key member of a research team that includes collaborators like Günter Langergraber, Ulrike Pitha, and Isabella Zluwa. His work is often conducted within interdisciplinary projects such as 'resilientRAIN', 'UrBan hEat islands REsilience', and the EU COST Action 'Circular City Re.Solution', reflecting a collaborative approach to addressing complex urban environmental challenges.