Vasileios Salamalikis
Dr. Vasileios Salamalikis serves as a researcher at Stiftelsen NILU in Kjeller, Norway. He holds a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the University of Patras, Greece, where his research centered on analyzing global isotopic patterns in meteoric precipitation and their linkages to both historical and contemporary climate dynamics.
Currently, Vasileios focuses on air quality monitoring and modeling in indoor and outdoor environments, leveraging low-cost sensor technologies to identify and predict urban climatic conditions through the analysis of atmospheric and environmental datasets.
His academic interests encompass a wide range of topics, including isotope climatology, solar irradiance modeling, urban air pollution, development and application of quality control and AI/ML tools for atmospheric and environmental applications. Through his research, Vasileios is dedicated to understanding issues and refining methodologies for environmental monitoring and modeling, contributing to the sustainable development of urban and regional environments.
Amandip Sangha
Dr. Amandip Sangha is a Senior Scientist at the Department of Digital Technologies at NILU. He holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Oslo. His academic interests are in mathematical modelling, data science, ML/AI and HPC applied to fields related to climate and environment.
He is motivated by contributing to socially useful research and knowledge development in the field of climate and the environment.
Gabriela Sousa Santos
Dr. Gabriela Sousa Santos did her graduate studies in Environmental Engineering in the University of Aveiro, Portugal. While studying the ways pollution is transported and transformed in the environment, she got curious on how these pollutants affect human health. Thus, she continued studying Toxicology in her post-graduation while working in Environmental Impact Assessment Studies.
She did her PhD in atmospheric chemistry at Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg. It was here that she started using numerical modelling in global scales to analyze the role of naturally emitted halogen compounds on the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. She then started also simulating salt particles and continued into secondary organic aerosols and their impact on the global radiation budget, work she continued in ETH, Zurich.
At NILU, she has moved into modelling at the local scale, which leads her to investigate the specificities and challenges in creating simulations at this scale of the transport of pollution.
Her current interests are in investigating which policy options will lead to healthier, more comfortable cities for higher quality of life and more sustainability globally. Cities have the characteristic of high population concentration which creates higher exposition to pollution and enhanced risk to climate change, however it also creates opportunities for higher efficiency systems in the use of resources.
Natascha Schmidt
Dr. Natascha Schmidt is a senior scientist at NILU in Tromsø, Norway.
She studied terrestrial and marine ecology and did her PhD in environmental chemistry at the Aix-Marseille University in Southern France. There she worked on the occurrence, transport and fate of microplastics and associated organic contaminants in the marine environment.
Dr. Schmidt is an expert in microplastic research, with a current focus on atmospheric measurements. She is also working on understanding the dynamics of tire wear particles and associated organic contaminants in the environment. Disseminating scientific knowledge to the public, stakeholders and governmental representatives and among the scientific community is one of her priorities.
Philipp Schneider
Dr. (Mr.) Philipp Schneider is a senior research scientist at NILU.
He received his PhD in 2008 from the University of California-Santa Barbara focusing on satellite remote sensing and spatial data analysis. Subsequently he held a position as postdoctoral research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology.
Philipp has extensive experience in the application of satellite remote sensing techniques for mapping and monitoring the environment. His current research focuses primarily on the use of satellite remote sensing data for applications in atmospheric composition and air quality.
Previously he has worked on multiple projects related to exploitation and validation of satellite-based land and lake surface temperature. In addition, he works on developing methods and tools to carry out geostatistical data fusion and data assimilation for combining air quality observations with model data to improve urban- and regional-scale mapping of air quality.
He acts as a reviewer for multiple scientific publications related to satellite remote sensing, air quality, and the environment. He has given over 200 presentations at international scientific conferences and workshops and has authored dozens of technical reports.
Philipp has been appointed a member of the Research Council of Norway National Reference Group for Horizon Europe Cluster 4 on Digital, industry and space. He is author of more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, with over 6000 citations and an h-index of 30.
