Student visiting from Wageningen University (Netherlands)

Eva Lansu, an Earth and Environment student from Wageningen University (The Netherlands), is doing her four month internship at our research group. She is working on a project about CO2 respiration of sediments. The study area is an almond orchard 16 km east of Murcia. During heavy rain events, the area turns into a river bed. Then, both erosion and sediment deposition take place. Eva has been measuring respiration of sediments after rain events and doing experiments in the laboratory. She will try to relate respiration to sediment properties, like soil moisture and organic carbon content, in order to better understand which factors enhance respiration. Besides working on her own project, she enjoys going into the field and helping with laboratory work for the various projects of the research group. At the end of December, Eva will finish her internship and complete her master’s degree, as this internship forms the last part of her studies. Supervision and guidance are provided by Maria Martinez-Mena and the Soil Physics and Land Management group of Wageningen University.