Who are we?

The Sustainable Agroecosystems Group was established in March 2013 at ETH-Zurich. We are part of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS).

Our research focuses on the feedbacks between ecosystem management options (e.g., tillage, cover cropping, green manuring, sustainable farming, and grazing), global change (e.g., elevated CO2 and climate change), and biogeochemical cycling. More specifically, we study the complex interactions between plants (e.g., diversity, nutrient uptake, and root growth), soil (e.g, structure, texture and mineralogy), soil biota (e.g. fungi, bacteria, and earthworms), and the carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems, especially agroecosystems. Our general approach is to integrate field sampling, laboratory analyses, and mathematical modeling to investigate whole system dynamics under current and future environmental conditions.

We conduct our experimental work from the micro-to landscape scale and subsequently integrate it with modeling to interpolate and extrapolate it to the regional and global scale. The modeling has also as goals to identify gaps in our knowledge, generate testable hypotheses, and test the mechanistic bases of the models. Furthermore, bio-economic modeling is conducted in collaboration with economic and social scientists to holistically assess the sustainability of agriculture.

Meet the team

The Greenhouse is being taken care of by many human beings along the year. The constant and thorough support of Christian Bäni, managing all the green spaces in ETH and supporting us daily in the Greenhouse to put our ideas and dreams into practice. The teaching activities were supported by the supportive and enthusiastic work of Julia Hauri in the Winter and Spring and Letizia Zuliani in the summer and Fall of ‘23.

Kenza Benabderrazik

I am an agroecologist focusing on the interplays between socio-ecological dynamics within agrifood systems. In my teaching and research, I employ decolonial and feminists approaches and explore political ecologies and alternative governance structures. I currently teach in the Sustainable Agroecosystems Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich and coordinate projects for scientific outreach related to food security and agroecology. I am involved in creating spaces and fostering dialogues between scientists, artists, and various actors involved in food system transformation. I previously worked as an environmental engineer, consulting in the field of environmental impact assessment, circular economy, waste management and resource efficiency, for projects in Tunisia, Morocco, and Switzerland.

Letizia Zuliani

Letizia Zuliani is a master’s student in Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich. She is passionate about transitioning our food system to align with social and ecological needs of the ecosystem. Since June, Letizia has been helping Kenza taking care of the Greenhouse, managing course logistics, and coordinating outreach activities. Here, she found a perfect space to immerse herself in diverse facets of agroecology, contributing to her ongoing enrichment in the field.

The gardening team

Composed by David Quamina, Qengaj Xhymret and AbdulAhmed Hayadani (from left to right), has been of a great and enthusiastic support and took good care of the tropical bed – stimulating our taste buds with firy Chili, sweet mangoes, papayas and bananas (and maybe coffee beans soon !). They work all year long on all the Green spaces of ETH.