Dušan Materić, PhD

I am a postdoctoral researcher at IMAU, Utrecht University, currently working on a novel method for semi-volatile (SVOC) organic traces characterisation in liquid samples. These traces are part of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and they are important markers for the presence of certain organisms, biomass burning, ecosystem stress etc. 
I am working on several different interdisciplinary projects involving DOM characterization in water, snow and ice samples. I am interested in the reconstruction of atmospheric conditions in the past by analysing organic aerosols stored in ice cores. Aerosols (including organic aerosols) are the least understood driver of climate change with an overall negative effect of Earth radiative balance (it has a cooling effect), so it is important to understand present and past aerosol composition and link it to the climate change. 
Furthermore, I am interested in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) especially ones emitted from plants, as they interact with other compounds in the atmosphere leading to the production of large amounts of organic aerosols, affecting our climate.