As an extension of the MURmap project, Master student Antonia Siebenbrunner had the opportunity to spend five months at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil. This research stay, funded through FWF and Erasmus+ mobility, opened up an exciting chance to work at the interface of environmental science, biogeochemistry, and analytical method development.

At UNESP, Antonia joined the group for biogeochemical method development (GEMB), working under the supervision of Prof. Amauri Antonio Menegário and Dr. Melina Borges Teixeira Zanatta. The GEMB group has incredible expertise in passive sampling based on diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), allowing Antonia to deepen her understanding of this method while strengthening the partnership between MUL and UNESP.

The highlight of the stay was a week-long sampling trip to Manaus, right into the heart of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Stefan Wagner, Johanna Irrgeher, and Thomas Prohaska from MUL joined Antonia in the field. José Lucas Martins Viana and Luiz Felipe Pompeu Prado Moreira from UNESP; Ezio Sargentini Junior, Marcos Bolson, and Cássio A. da Silva Oliveira from the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA); as well as Paul Williams and Brian Quinn from Queen’s University Belfast completed the international sampling team. Water and sediment samples were collected and DGT passive samplers were deployed in several Amazonian tributaries.

The sampling trip presented a unique opportunity to apply and test methods developed and used in MURmap under extreme environmental conditions in one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse river systems. Bringing the insights from the Amazonian rivers back to Austria will help place the Mur’s geochemical fingerprint into a broader global context and provide new perspectives for ongoing research.

A heartfelt thank you goes to the entire GEMB team for their warmth, support and enthusiasm throughout the stay!