Thomas Sonderegger

Dr. Thomas Sonderegger is a Lecturer at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zürich. Since 2020, he has also been working as a PostDoc in the Ecological Systems Design (ESD) group. His professional activities are closely tied to the Institute of Environmental Engineering. He co-chaired the Mineral Resources Task Force under the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment from 2017 to 2020.

Thomas Sonderegger holds the following academic qualifications:

• PhD in Ecological Systems Design (ETH Zurich, 2020)
• Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering (ETH Zurich, 2014)
• Master’s degree in Music Pedagogy (specializing in drumming, Zurich University of the Arts)

His research focuses on advancing Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methodologies for natural resources. Key areas include soil degradation impacts (compaction/erosion), water criticality analysis, and integrating supply risk assessments with LCA frameworks to enhance sustainable resource management. He has developed spatially explicit tools for evaluating resource depletion and occupation, emphasizing global hotspot identification and mitigation strategies.

His work has been published in journals such as Environmental Science & Technology, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, and the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. These papers highlight methodological innovations in LCIA and criticality assessments, alongside frameworks linking natural resource use to environmental safeguards.

Narrative on advising/grants: No specific academic grants or advisees (PhD/Master’s students) are mentioned in the provided information.

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the Ecological Systems Design (ESD) group and the Institute of Environmental Engineering at ETH Zurich, which support his research on environmental impact methodologies and resource sustainability.