Oliver Schilling

Prof. Dr. Oliver Schilling is an Assistant Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of Basel and affiliated with Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. He leads research on surface water-groundwater interactions using integrated surface-subsurface hydrological models (ISSHM) and novel tracer techniques including dissolved atmospheric noble gases, environmental DNA, and radioactive tracers.

• Research Focus: Surface-subsurface hydrology, ecohydrology, groundwater-surface water interactions, tracer hydrogeology, climate change adaptation in water systems
• Key Projects: Integrated Hydrological Modeling for Operational Forecasting, Sustainable Nitrogen Fertilization, Slow Water Initiatives, Cryosphere-Groundwater Connectivity in Alpine Regions

Scientific Contributions include developing HGS-PDAF (modular data assimilation framework), advancing microbial transport algorithms in HydroGeoSphere, and pioneering online flow cytometry for microbial analysis in high-turbidity environments. His work addresses drinking water production via bank filtration along alluvial rivers, critical for 30% of Swiss and 50% of European drinking water supply.

Scientific Leadership:

• Editor, Hydrogeology Journal (since 2025)
• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Water (since 2021)
• Coordinator, Swiss Water-Earth Systems (WES) PhD School (2020–2022)