I have been a fan of the EAG’s distinguished lecturer tour format for quite some time, so you can imagine my excitement when I was asked to be this year’s lecturer. My enthusiasm was particularly fueled by this being an excellent opportunity to demystify biogeochemical modeling a bit: explain how models are built, how they work, how different types of models from diagenetic models to earth System Models can be combined and what kind of data they need and what kind of questions they can answer. Although biogeochemical modeling has been an integral part of (bio)geochemistry research for decades, it is not a subject most geoscience students get easily drawn to and bridging the model-data divide sometimes still remains a challenge. I specifically wanted to highlight the importance of close, interdisciplinary collaborations in model design and set-up and showcase how models act as a platform for knowledge synthesis and integrate multidisciplinary observational and laboratory data. I thus prepared three lectures that spotlight different model approaches, model-data collaborations, and model-model interactions, aiming to unravel the intricacies of complex biogeochemical dynamics that underlie crucial carbon cycle-climate feedback.

For me, the EAG’s distinguished lecturer tour did not only provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the power of biogeochemical modeling but also an incredible opportunity to widen each other’s view and learn from each other’s experience. I am immensely grateful for the warm hospitality extended by Csaba Szabó in Budapest, Tomáš Magna in Prague and Momchil Dylgerov in Sofia, their research communities, colleagues and students. I really enjoyed the scientific exchange, but also particularly valued their openness and the insight they shared about their national, geoscience research and educational landscapes. It was instructive to compare notes and discuss the pandemic’s impacts on geoscience education, common challenges in student recruitment, international mobility, and geoscience outreach. I also found it fascinating to see how dominant geoscience research interests, methods, and practice change from country to country. I particularly enjoyed delving into the influence of the profound, recent political changes in central and eastern Europe, from the fall of the iron curtain to the eastward expansion of the European Union, on the geoscience research and education landscape. Finally, Csaba, Tomáš, and Momchil also added real personal touch and a genuine glimpse into local history and culture from the Roman remains in Sofia’s metro and a beautiful, hidden coffee shop at the university, to the cozy restaurant tucked away in one of Budapest’s side streets, and the lively atmosphere of the pivnice in Prague’s old town.