SENSE Lab Hosts Collaboration Meeting with Eawag and UNIL
© 2025 EPFL
On December 12, the SENSE laboratory at ALPOLE, Sion, welcomed colleagues from Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) for a day of scientific exchange and collaboration. The meeting brought together leading experts in lake biogeochemistry, aquatic ecology, and environmental sensing to discuss ongoing research and explore future collaborative opportunities.
A Day of Scientific Exchange
The meeting, organized by Dr. Santona Khatun from EPFL's SENSE team, featured a rich program combining research presentations, laboratory visits, and strategic discussions. The day began with Dr. Khatun presenting her recent work on methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) profiles in three Swiss lakes—greenhouse gases that play crucial roles in lake carbon cycles and climate dynamics.
Following a laboratory tour of the SENSE facilities, Dr. Tomy Doda from UNIL delivered a presentation on turbulence in lakes, highlighting the complex physical processes that govern mixing and nutrient distribution in aquatic systems. The afternoon included dedicated time for participants to discuss future collaboration opportunities, identifying synergies between the institutions' research programs.
Public Seminar on Lake Carbon Cycling
The meeting culminated with a public seminar by Professor Marie-Élodie Perga from UNIL's Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, titled "The forgotten piece of lakes' carbon cycle." Prof. Perga addressed a fundamental question in aquatic science: why lakes and inland waters are significant CO₂ emitters, despite conventional expectations based on metabolic theory.
Drawing on paleo-ecological records, long-term observatories, high-frequency monitoring, and remote sensing data, Prof. Perga presented compelling evidence that processes affecting total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon—particularly catchment weathering and calcite precipitation—play underappreciated but critical roles in regulating CO₂ fluxes at the lake-atmosphere interface. Her research demonstrates that calcite precipitation significantly boosts annual CO₂ outgassing not only in Lake Geneva but across lakes worldwide.
Prof. Perga is a key scientific contributor to the LéXPLORE platform on Lake Geneva, a floating laboratory that enables continuous, high-resolution monitoring of lake processes.
Strengthening Swiss Lake Research Networks
The meeting represented an important step in strengthening collaboration among Switzerland's leading lake research institutions. Participants included researchers from:
- EPFL SENSE (Smart Environmental Sensing in Extreme Environments), led by Prof. Jérôme Chappellaz
- Eawag, represented by Dr. Damien Bouffard and Dr. Carsten Schubert
- UNIL, represented by Prof. Marie-Élodie Perga and Dr. Tomy Doda
The gathering at ALPOLE in Sion provided an ideal setting for fostering these partnerships, combining state-of-the-art laboratory facilities with the proximity to alpine lake systems that are central to all participants' research programs.
The SENSE team thanks all participants for their contributions to this successful meeting and looks forward to continued collaboration.