MSc. Biology Andreas Schönborn

Work at ZHAW

Position

Head Ecological Engineering Group

Focus

• Biochar and toxic elements in circular systems
• Applications of ecological sanitation
• Conceptual Development of Ecological Engineering

Teaching

• Lecturer
• Supervisor PhD student (1)
• Supervision of Master`s theses (18 since 2016)
• Supervisor of > 100 Bachelor's thesis (since 2007)

Experience

• Co-founder / head of research
  ZHAW-Spinoff planar4 GmbH, Stäfa, Switzerland
  12 / 2017 - today
• Lecturer and researcher
  ZHAW Wädenswil
  09 / 2012 - today
• Co-president
  International Ecological Engineering Society IEES
  08 / 2016 - 04 / 2023
• Co-Organizer “Closed Cycles and Circular Society 2023
  Technical University of Chania, Crete
  2023 - 2023
• Main organizer “Closed Cycles and Circular Society – The Power of Ecological Engineering” (3-day online IEES Symposium)
  ZHAW Wädenswil, Switzerland
  2020 - 2020
• Head of specialization “Renewable energy & ecotechnology” (BSc)
  ZHAW Wädenswil
  2015 - 2020
• Member of Advisory Board
  Ecotox Centre, Dübendorf, Switzerland
  2012 - 2016
• Research associate
  ZHAW Wädenswil, Switzerland
  01 / 2007 - 08 / 2012
• Main organizer, Eco-Cities and Ecological Engineering (3-day IEES Symposium
  ZHAW Wädenswil, Switzerland
  2012 - 2012
• Editor of website and newsletter
  International Ecological Engineering Society IEES
  1999 - 2012
• Director / owner
  armadillo media gmbh Udligenswil, Switzerland
  01 / 2000 - 12 / 2007
• Research associate ETH Zurich
  Institute of Terrestrial Ecology Schlieren, Switzerland
  08 / 1999 - 06 / 2000
• Research associate
  EAWAG, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
  06 / 1997 - 08 / 1999
• Project assistant
  Dr. Johannes Heeb GmbH, Wolhusen, CH
  01 / 1999 - 06 / 1999
• Co-Organizer "Recycling the Resource - Ecological Engineering for Wastewater Treatment" (5-day conference)
  Hochschule Wädenswil, Switzerland
  1995 - 1995
• Project manager
  Centre of Applied Ecology Schattweid, 6114 Steinhuserberg, Switzerland
  01 / 1994 - 04 / 1994

Education and Continuing education

Education

Biologist (Dipl.-Biol., equivalent to MSc Biology) / Limnology (major), biochemistry, microbiology, soil science (minors)
Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany
10 / 1986 - 06 / 1993

Continuing Education

Exchange year
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
05 / 1990

Network

Membership of networks

• Circular City (Member of working group 3 Resource Recovery)
• International Ecological Engineering Society IEES
• COST Action - CA 23104 "Water4Reuse"

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7432-2040

Social media

LinkedIn

Projects

• From Toilet to Field: Ecological Sanitation & Soil Regeneration in Guatemala / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• Value Next – Transdisciplinary Research for a Circular Water Future / Team member / ongoing
• From linear to circular planning - steps towards a new paradigm in the planning professions / Project leader / ongoing
• Evaluation of methods for monitoring the quality of treated domestic grey water for water re-use / Team member / completed
• Green!Tea: Renewable Energy for the Vietnamese tea sector / Deputy project leader / completed
• Casa Circolo – Direct recycling of greywater using the example of the KREIS-Haus / Deputy project leader / completed
• Development of multi-functional, modular green wall systems with 3D rapid prototyping for circular cities / Team member / completed
• Hydrothermal carbonization as a sustainable solution for faecal waste treatment / Team member / completed
• Ecological Engineering Living Lab: Insights into the lab of Ecological Engineering / Team member / completed
• Local Water Loop / Team member / completed
• Biochar for urban Trees / Team member / completed

Publications

• Bergman, Alan J.; Arturi, Katarzyna; Schönborn, Andreas; Hollender, Juliane; Vermeirssen, Etiënne L. M.,

  2024.

  Effect‑directed analysis of genotoxicants in food packaging based on HPTLC fractionation, bioassays, and toxicity prediction with machine learning.

  Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.

  417, pp. 131-142.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05632-y

• Wiesinger, Helene; Bleuler, Christophe; Christen, Verena; Favreau, Philippe; Hellweg, Stefanie; Langer, Miriam; Pasquettaz, Roxane; Schönborn, Andreas; Wang, Zhanyun,

  2024.

  Sicheres und nachhaltiges Recycling braucht Kontrollen und mehr Transparenz – eine Fallstudie zu PVC-Bodenbelägen.

  Mitteilungen der Fachgruppe Umweltchemie und Ökotoxikologie.

  30(1), pp. 24-27.

  Available from: https://www.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Netzwerk_und_Strukturen/Fachgruppen/Umweltchemie_Oekotoxikologie/mblatt/2024/Heft124.pdf

• Wiesinger, Helene; Bleuler, Christophe; Christen, Verena; Favreau, Philippe; Hellweg, Stefanie; Langer, Miriam; Pasquettaz, Roxane; Schönborn, Andreas; Wang, Zhanyun,

  2024.

  Legacy and emerging plasticizers and stabilizers in PVC floorings : impacts of an industrial transition and recycling.

  Environmental Science & Technology.

  58(4), pp. 1894-1907.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c04851

• Bergmann, Alan J.; Breitenbach, Milena; Muñoz, Celine; Simon, Eszter; McCombie, Gregor; Biedermann, Maurus; Schönborn, Andreas; Vermeirssen, Etiënne L.M.,

  2023.

  Towards detecting genotoxic chemicals in food packaging at thresholds of toxicological concern using bioassays with high-performance thin-layer chromatography.

  Food Packaging and Shelf Life.

  36(101052).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fpsl.2023.101052

• Saluz, Andrea Gion; Bleuler, Mira; Krähenbühl, Nikita; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2022.

  Quality and suitability of fecal biochar in structurally stable urban tree substrates.

  Science of the Total Environment.

  838, Part 3(156236).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156236

• van Hullebusch, Eric D.; Bani, Aida; Carvalho, Miguel; Cetecioglu, Zeynep; De Gusseme, Bart; Di Lonardo, Sara; Djolic, Maja; van Eekert, Miriam; Griessler Bulc, Tjasa; Haznedaroglu, Berat Z.; Istenic, Darja; Kisser, Johannes; Krzeminski, Pawel; Melita, Sanna; Pavlova, Dolja; Plaza, Elzbieta; Schoenborn, Andreas; Thomas, Geraldine; Vaccari, Mentore; Wirth, Maria; Hartl, Marco; Zeeman, Grietje,

  2021.

  Nature-based units as building blocks for resource recovery systems in cities.

  Water.

  13(22), pp. 3153.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223153

• Bühler, Devi; Antenen, Nadine; Frei, Matthias; Koller, Christoph; Rousseau, Diederik P. L.; Schönborn, Andreas; Junge, Ranka,

  2021.

  Towards water and energy self-sufficiency : a closed-loop, solar-driven, low-tech laundry pilot facility (LaundReCycle) for the reuse of laundry wastewater.

  Circular Economy and Sustainability.

  1(3), pp. 1037-1051.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00077-2

• Dale, Glenn; Dotro, Gabriela; Srivastava, Puneet; Austin, David; Hutchinson, Stacy; Head, Peter; Goonetilleke, Ashanta; Stefanakis, Alexandros; Junge, Ranka; Fernandez, José A.; Weyer, Vanessa; Truter, Wayne; Bühler, Devi; Bennett, John; Liu, Hongbo; Li, Zifu; Du, Jianqiang; Schneider, Petra; Hack, Jochen; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2021.

  Education in ecological engineering : a need whose time has come.

  Circular Economy and Sustainability.

  1(1), pp. 333-373.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00067-4

• Schönborn, Andreas; Junge, Ranka,

  2021.

  Redefining ecological engineering in the context of circular economy and sustainable development.

  Circular Economy and Sustainability.

  1(1), pp. 375-394.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00023-2

• Bleuler, Mira; Gold, Moritz; Strande, Linda; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2020.

  Pyrolysis of dry toilet substrate as a means of nutrient recycling in agricultural systems : potential risks and benefits.

  Waste and Biomass Valorization.

  2020(12), pp. 4171-4183.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-01220-0

• Bergmann, Alan J.; Simon, Eszter; Schifferli, Andrea; Schönborn, Andreas; Vermeirssen, Etiënne L. M.,

  2020.

  Estrogenic activity of food contact materials : evaluation of 20 chemicals using a yeast estrogen screen on HPTLC or 96-well plates.

  Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.

  412(19), pp. 4527-4536.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02701-w

• Kisser, Johannes; Wirth, Maria; De Gusseme, Bart; Van Eekert, Miriam; Zeeman, Grietje; Schönborn, Andreas; Vinnerås, Björn; Finger, David C.; Kolbl Repinc, Sabina; Bulc, Tjaša Griessler; Bani, Aida; Pavlova, Dolja; Staicu, Lucian C.; Atasoy, Merve; Cetecioglu, Zeynep; Kokko, Marika; Haznedaroglu, Berat Z.; Hansen, Joachim; Istenič, Darja; Canga, Eriona; Malamis, Simos; Camilleri-Fenech, Margaret; Beesley, Luke,

  2020.

  A review of nature-based solutions for resource recovery in cities.

  Blue-Green Systems.

  2(1).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.2166/bgs.2020.930

• Gold, Moritz; Cunningham, Michael; Bleuler, Mira; Arnheiter, Ruth; Schönborn, Andreas; Niwagaba, Charles; Strande, Linda,

  2018.

  Operating parameters for three resource recovery options from slow-pyrolysis of faecal sludge.

  Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development.

  8(4).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2018.009

• Schönborn, Andreas; Schmid, Pascal; Bräm, Sarah; Reifferscheid, Georg; Ohlig, Marina; Buchinger, Sebastian,

  2017.

  Unprecedented sensitivity of the planar yeast estrogen screen by using a spray-on technology.

  Journal of Chromatography A.

  1530, pp. 185-191.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2017.11.009

• Schönborn, Andreas; Kunz, Petra; Koster, Margie,

  2015.

  Estrogenic activity in drainage water : a field study on a Swiss cattle pasture.

  Environmental Sciences Europe.

  27(17).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-015-0047-4

• Schönborn, Andreas; Grimmer, Andrea Adelheid,

  2013.

  Coupling sample preparation with effect-directed analysis of estrogenic activity : proposal for a new rapid screening concept for water samples.

  Journal of Planar Chromatography - Modern TLC.

  26(5), pp. 402-408.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1556/JPC.26.2013.5.3

• Wolfram, Evelyn; Graf, Matthias; Schlicht, Ramona; Schilling, Stephan; Schönborn, Andreas; Weiss, Stefan,

  2023.

  Planar umuC assay : a novel effect-directed analysis kit for screening of genotoxic potential of plant extracts[poster].

  In:

  71st International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA), Dublin, Ireland, 2–5 July 2023.

  Thieme.

  pp. 1396-1397.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1774184

• Schönborn, Andreas; Saluz, Andrea Gion,

  2021.

  Biochar in city tree substrates : an element for closing water and nutrient cycles in cities?[paper].

  In:

  Mugellini, Elena; Carpanzano, Emanuele, eds.,

  Proceedings of the 2nd FTAL Conference 2021 Sustainable Smart Cities and Regions.

  FTAL Conference 2021 – Sustainable smart cities and regions, Lugano, Switzerland, 28-29 October 2021.

  CEUR Workshop Proceedings.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-26783

• Merki, Rebekka; Schönborn, Andreas; Pihan, Lisa-Anna-Maria; Wolfram, Evelyn,

  2019.

  Screening for active substances with TLC bioautography : challenges with artefacts[poster].

  In:

  12th BioDetectors Conference 2019 : Abstract book.

  12th BioDetectors Conference 2019, Vienna, Austria, 26-27 September 2019.

  Vienna:

  BioDetection Systems.

• Brüll, A.; van Bohemen, H.; Costanza, R.; Mitsch, W. J.; van den Boomen, R.; Chaudhuri, N.; Heeb, J.; Jenssen, P.; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2011.

  Benefits of ecological engineering practices[paper].

  In:

  International Congress Ecological Engineering: from Concepts to Applications, Paris, France, 2-4 December 2009.

  Elsevier.

  pp. 16-20.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2011.11.004

• Bühler, Devi; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2021.

  Das KREIS-Haus : die grosse Kreislaufvision im Miniformat.

  Transfer.

  2021(2), pp. 12.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-24755

• Bergmann, Alan; Simon, Eszter; Schifferli, Andrea; Schönborn, Andreas; Vermeirssen, Etienne,

  2020.

  Comparison of yeast estrogen screening on HPTLC and in microtiter plates.

  Camag Bibliography Service.

  125(2), pp. 14-15.

  Available from: https://www.camag.com/article/comparison-yeast-estrogen-screening-hptlc-and-microtiter-plates

• Bühler, Devi; Antenen, Nadine; Frei, Matthias; Krähenbühl, Nikita; Barmettler, Regina; Schönborn, Andreas; Brändle, Till; Balducci, Andrea; Mezek, Katjuša; Zybach, Christa; Bleuler, Mira; Junge, Ranka,

  2020.

  Local Water Loop : Vorstudie für einen energie- und wasserautarken Waschmaschinenbetrieb.

  Wädenswil:

  ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-28824

• Bergman, Alan J.; Simon, Eszter; Schifferli, Andrea; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Schönborn, Andreas,

  2018.

  Performance of measuring estrogenicity with planar-YES compared to 96-well plate YES[poster].

  In:

  SETAC Europe 28th Annual Meeting, Rome, Italy, 13-17 May 2018.

• Schönborn, Andreas; Mainetti, Tamara,

  2018.

  How effect-based activity profiling can contribute to safer irrigation water : the example of the planar-YES[paper].

  In:

  Proceedings Xenowac II - Challenges and Solutions Related to Xenobiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance in the Framewaork of Urban Wastewater Reuse.

  XENOWAC II, Limassol, Cyprus, 10-12 October 2018.

• Schönborn, Andreas; Bleuler, Mira,

  2017.

  Biochar-based life support loop (SpaceLooP).

  Wädenswil:

  ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3480

• Sennhauser, Dieter; Schönborn, Andreas; Grimmer, Andrea Adelheid; Mainetti, Tamara; Durisch-Kaiser, Edith,

  2017.

  Der Östrogenisierung der Umwelt auf der Spur : Wirkprofile östrogen-aktiver Substanzen in kommunalem Abwasser.

  Aqua & Gas.

  2017(5), pp. 64-71.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-2168

• Köster, Oliver; Schubert-Ulrich, Patricia; Schönborn, Andreas; Schulz, Wolfgang,

  2016.

  OXISCREEN – Wirkungsbezogene Analytik : zur Detektion von Reaktionsprodukten bei der Trinkwasseraufbereitung mit O3, O3/H2O2 und CL2/CLO2.

  Aqua & Gas.

  2016(12), pp. 32-41.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-2167

• Schönborn, Andreas,

  2016.

  Umwelt im Herzen, Gebäude im Fokus : die neue Vertiefung Erneuerbare Energien und Ökotechnologie.

  IUNR intern.

  2016(1), pp. 6-7.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-7251

• Schönborn, Andreas,

  2015.

  Feurige Schüssel : vom Amazonas zum Null-Abfall-Klo.

  IUNR intern.

  2015(2), pp. 22-23.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3777

• Hebler, Thomas; Schönborn, Andreas; Bally, Andreas,

  2012.

  Naturnahes Wasserrecycling im Zoo Zürich : Leistungsfähigkeit eines bepflanzten Sandfilters.

  Aqua & Gas.

  2012(10), pp. 62-69.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-7313

• Schönborn, Andreas,

  2012.

  Östrogene aus der Nutztierhaltung.

  Oekotoxzentrum News.

  2012(4), pp. 4-5.

• Graber, Andreas; Schönborn, Andreas; Junge, Ranka,

  2011.

  Closing water, nutrient and energy cycles within cities by urban farms for fish and vegetable production.

  IWA Specialist Group on Use of Macrophytes in Water Pollution Control: Newsletter.

  2011(37), pp. 37-41.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-1619

• Schönborn, Andreas,

  2007.

  Stensund wastewater aquaculture : what can we learn from it today?.

  EcoEng Newsletter.

  2007(9).

• Schönborn, Andreas,

  2020.

  The wonders of closed cycles : an introduction.

  In:

  IEES Symposium "Closed Cycles and the Circular Society – The Power of Ecological Engineering", online, 2-4 September 2020.

  Available from: https://zhaw.mediaspace.cast.switch.ch/media/t/0_cr53wd5o/7551

• Schönborn, Andreas; Bulant, Nicola,

  2015.

  Biochar from human waste : steps towards a new sanitation approach.

  In:

  15th Annual Meeting of the American Ecological Engineering Society, Stillwater, 3-5 June 2015.

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