Thomas Amon

Thomas Amon is a Professor at the Free University of Berlin and Head of the Department of Sensor Technology and Modeling at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy Potsdam (ATB). He leads research in livestock-environment interactions, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gases, managing antimicrobial resistance, and optimizing dairy and pig production systems.

• Current Roles: Department Head (ATB), Professor (Free University Berlin)
• Research Pillars: Animal husbandry emissions, biogas systems, antibiotic resistance dynamics, climate-resilient farming

His research interests span agricultural biotechnology, environmental microbiology, and sustainable systems engineering. Key projects include:

• LeibnizLabPP - Pandemic preparedness in animal-environment systems
• SMP4 - Antibiotic use modeling in livestock
• EmiMod - Emission quantification methods

Using process-based models like Dutch Tier 3 and ManureDNDC, he quantifies whole-farm carbon and nitrogen cycles across confinement and pasture-based dairy systems. His work reveals:

• 63% of GHG emissions from confinement systems come from enteric methane
• Pasture systems show 18-69% soil organic carbon sequestration
• 19.9 tCO₂-eq per cow in confinement vs 2.7-4.0 tCO₂-eq in pasture systems

His scientific contributions include:

• First mechanistic model linking diet composition to antibiotic resistance gene persistence
• Novel framework for dairy GHG accounting across barn-manure-soil interfaces
• Optimized ventilation models for pig housing with outdoor access