University of Stuttgart. Photo: Zinnmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stuttgart_-_Keplerstra%C3%9Fe_7.jpg)
University of St Andrews. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Andrews_University_Classics_Building.jpg)
University of Stuttgart. Photo: Zinnmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stuttgart_-_Keplerstra%C3%9Fe_7.jpg)
University of St Andrews. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Andrews_University_Classics_Building.jpg)
Sabine Ulrike Gerbersdorf is a German environmental scientist whose professional work has developed across aquatic ecology, sediment research, environmental toxicology, and hydraulic engineering. Her research has linked biological processes in natural aquatic systems with the physical behavior of sediments and the management of contaminated or impounded waters.
Gerbersdorf holds the academic qualification Dr. rer. nat. and completed her habilitation at the University of Stuttgart with the 2022 thesis Microbial Biostabilization in fine Sediments. Her academic development combined biological research with hydraulic engineering, environmental modelling, sedimentology, microbiology, and ecological assessment. Her research affiliations have included the University of Stuttgart and the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Gerbersdorf's scientific career has focused on the ecological and physical processes governing aquatic sediments and biofilms. At the University of Stuttgart's Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems and Institute of Hydraulic Engineering, she investigated sediment erosion, contaminant remobilization, microbial extracellular polymeric substances, biofilm adhesiveness, cyanobacteria, and the role of microbial communities in sediment stabilization. Her work also included research at the Gatty Marine Laboratory and Sediment Ecology Research Group of the University of St Andrews, where she studied the engineering effects of benthic bacterial assemblages on sediment resistance. From 2007 to 2010 she led the KeyBioEffects research training network, an EC-funded project concerned with biodiversity conservation, water pollution, toxicant effects, and ecological assessment in European rivers. She later served as deputy to the CHARM reservoir-management project at the University of Stuttgart from 2016 to 2021. In subsequent work at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, she has supported innovation, research, and science-policy activities, including programs related to medical science, sustainable laboratories, and 3R research.
Developed and advanced research on microbial biostabilization, demonstrating how bacterial and algal biofilms and their extracellular polymeric substances influence sediment cohesion, erosion resistance, and aquatic ecosystem function.
Led the European Commission-funded KeyBioEffects research training network from 2007 to 2010, addressing biodiversity conservation, water pollution, toxicant effects, and ecological assessment in European rivers.
Served as deputy project manager of the interdisciplinary CHARM reservoir-management project, which integrated sedimentology, ecology, engineering, environmental science, and social science in the study of sustainable reservoir management.
Completed the habilitation thesis Microbial Biostabilization in fine Sediments at the University of Stuttgart in 2022.
(Habilitation thesis by Sabine Ulrike Gerbersdorf examinin...)
2022The effect of light intensity and shear stress on microbial biostabilization and the community composition of natural biofilms
(Research on how light and shear stress influence microbia...)
2018(Research article examining seasonal development of flowin...)
2016(Interdisciplinary study of reservoir management and susta...)
2021(Experimental study of the sediment-stabilizing effects of...)
2010(Study of the role of microbial extracellular polymeric su...)
2008(Article describing a mesocosm designed to study interacti...)
2015Seasonal biostabilization and erosion behavior of fluvial biofilms under different hydrodynamic and light conditions
(Study of seasonal variation in the stabilizing and erosio...)
2015(Comprehensive study of the spatial, seasonal, and vertica...)
2009(Study assessing relationships between critical erosion th...)
2022(Article examining how anthropogenic pollutants affect fre...)
2011(Methodological article describing magnetic particle induc...)
2009Exposure to silver nanoparticles affects biofilm structure and adhesiveness
(Study of the effects of silver nanoparticles on freshwate...)
2017(Review of the ecological, functional, and physical mechan...)
2018(Research on microbial communities as biological agents th...)
2009(Research article by Sabine Ulrike Gerbersdorf, Werner Man...)
2008(Interdisciplinary review co-authored by Sabine U. Gerbers...)
2015Combining Field and Laboratory Measurements to Determine the Erosion Risk of Cohesive Sediments Best
(Research contribution by Markus Noack, Sabine U. Gerbersd...)
2015(Research article by Sabine U. Gerbersdorf, Thomas Jancke,...)
2006(Research article by Sabine U. Gerbersdorf on immunolabell...)
2005Gerbersdorf's research has involved sustained collaborations with scientists at the University of Stuttgart, the University of St Andrews, the University of Koblenz-Landau, the University of Konstanz, the University of Freiburg, and other European research institutions. Her work has connected natural-science, engineering, and social-science perspectives in research on aquatic environments and reservoir management.
