Maja Lindblad

Doktorand | PhD student
Institutionen för energi och teknik | Department of energy and technology
maja.lindblad@slu.se

What is your research about?

My research focuses on reducing environmental impacts from nutrient cycling in agriculture. A special focus lies on the important plant nutrient nitrogen, as agricultural nitrogen emissions contribute to issues such as eutrophication, climate change, ozone depletion and air pollution. The aim of the research is to analyse the management of nitrogen in agricultural nutrient cycling from a systems perspective, thereby identifying most important measures to reduce the impacts and losses of nitrogen in the food system.

What background do you have?

I have a degree in Environmental Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering (LTH) at Lund University, with a master specialization in Process design. Before starting my doctoral studies, I worked in the waste management industry mainly with composting and water treatment. I have also worked with practical laboratory work, most recently within a research project about biogas production but also in a pilot project about biodiesel production from algae. 

Why do you think this is important?

Nitrogen is a crucial part of food production, at the same time as the suboptimal use of both synthetic and organic nitrogen fertilizers has negative effects on the environment and human health. All nitrogen emissions coming from agricultural production is a loss of an important resource. Reducing these emissions is, therefore, not only important from an environmental perspective, it is also a way to reduce losses and make better use of nitrogen sources. Making better use of nitrogen sources also means that less synthetic nitrogen fertilizers have to be imported, which is an important aspect for improved preparedness and resilience in the society.