Dr Østerbye-Madsen has defended his PhD thesis on brownification of lobelia lakes

Mikkel Madsen-Østerbye enrolled as a 4+4 PhD student almost 5 years ago as part of the Centre for Lake Restoration funded by the VILLUM Foundation. Mikkel has now successfully defended his thesis that focused on UV-mediated mineralization of coloured dissolved organic matter (cDOM). In most temperate and arctic regions, surface waters become increasingly more brown (brownification). The brown water absorbs light and thereby reduces the depth distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation. Mikkel has focused on UV-mediated mineralization of cDOM and has invented a novel experimental set-up that closely mimics the natural field conditions so that UV-mediated mineralization can be studied reliably in the laboratory situation.