Successful Defence | Congratulations to Koketso Michelle Molepo

17 February 2026

Photo: privat

Koketso Michelle Molepo has successfully completed her PhD thesis titled “Elemental mercury air-sea exchange – insights from long-term, ground-based atmospheric observations.”

In her research, Koketso investigated how elemental mercury (Hg⁰) is exchanged between the ocean and the atmosphere—an important but still poorly understood component of the global mercury cycle. Using long-term ground-based atmospheric observations, she analysed indirect measurements to better understand the dynamics of Hg⁰ air–sea exchange and to help close existing knowledge gaps in global mercury cycling. Her work contributes valuable insights into how mercury moves through the Earth system and how these processes can be better quantified.

The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ralf Ebinghaus (Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany), with co-supervision by Dr. Johannes Bieser (Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany), Dr. Ian Hedgecock (CNR-IIA, Calabria, Italy), and Dr. Aurélien Dommergue (UGA, Grenoble, France), whose guidance supported this international and interdisciplinary research effort.

Koketso has already started the next step in her academic career and is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at GFZ Potsdam since August 2025. There, she contributes to the ChatGRT project under the supervision of Dr. Jan Saynisch-Wagner, in collaboration with DKRZ.
Congratulations on this important achievement, Koketso, and best wishes for the exciting work ahead!