Dr. Jan Heiko Mertens

Analysis of the Spondias tuberosa Arr. population by means of remote sensing.

Implementation of a three-year field trial in northeast Brazil; Conduct workshops on sustainable forest management and the use of non-timber products; Work on the conservation status of Spondias tuberosa Arr.; Establishment of a science network with national, regional and local stakeholders for the management and protection of S. tuberosa; Compilation of annual and progress reports for project sponsors; Publication of scientific results; Acquisition of third-party funds.

Supervision of field and laboratory practice within the framework of student seminars; Support and guidance of student theses; Implementation of field and pot experiments; Digestion and analysis of soil and plant material (nutrient and heavy metal content).

Optimizing split-pot experimental setups for research on host-fungal interaction in arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis.

Inspection of the composting plant; Implementation of the composting concept developed in 2010; Training of the local staff in safe handling of Humanure, basics of hot composting, and process monitoring; Evaluation of the composting process and the product according to WHO standards; Optimization of the ACF design for urine-separating dry toilettes.

Development of a concept for the composting of human feces in the Mongolian context; Analysis of marketability and use of Humanure compost; Development a concept for a low-tech composting plant, that enables hot composting of human feces according to WHO standards.

Analysis and efficiency improvement of the Sweden-China Erdos eco-town project; Commissioning, monitoring and optimization the hot composting of human feces; Evaluation of compost Humanure: Mineral and organic ingredients and determination of safety in accordance with WHO standards.

Crop production; Wheat and potato harvest; Silage making.

Sustainable land use in semiarid conditions; Soil conditioner (Biochar, clay substrate, manure); Reafforestation; Spondias tuberosa Arr. and its conservation status.

Plant nutrition in tropical and subtropical ecosystems; Mycorrhizosphere processes; Environmentally relevant aspects of fertilization; Soil and water protection.

Plant nutrition and fertilization; Humus management; Soil science and soil protection.