Simone Daniela Langhans

Simone is an interdisciplinary freshwater ecologist with 15+ years of experience in aquatic ecology, ecosystem restoration, decision analysis theory, spatial conservation planning, ecosystem services modelling, stakeholder engagement and knowledge co-production. In her research she combines these topics to – often in multi-disciplinary teams and with local governments and communities – investigate alternative ways of solving complex environmental decision problems with a focus on sustainable freshwater management. Simone grew up in Switzerland, where she received a PhD in freshwater ecology from ETH Zürich. In her thesis she tested hypotheses around the topic of aquatic-terrestrial linkages and whole-system organic matter processes, including terrestrial and aquatic organisms, based on field experiments along the near-natural Tagliamento River in Italy. After her PhD she led a Swiss-wide project dedicated to set quality targets and develop monitoring protocols for Swiss rivers, bringing together representatives of each regional water authority. This position introduced her to the societal challenges around solving complex decisions in freshwater restoration, conservation and management, which since then builds the backbone of her research. Simone has acquired funding from various sources to work and lead research projects in Switzerland, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Spain and Denmark, where she also lectured at universities, supervised students, organised seminars and facilitated stakeholder workshops. Simone moved to Oslo early this year to head the section on “Nature-based Solutions and Aquatic Ecology”.