My STSM aimed to develop an approach to downscale the annual soil nitrogen budget from the Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment (MAgPIE) to a monthly nitrogen budget, for the world. Such dataset is an essential input to the seasonal MARINA-Multi (Model to Assess River Inputs of pollutaNts to seAs) model, which I am developing as part of my PhD. The seasonal MARINA-Multi model will enhance our understanding of the seasonality of water pollution at the global scale taking a multi-pollutant perspective. Ultimately, aiding in clean water for nature and society across seasons and sectors.

The Land Use and Resilience group at PIK gave me a very warm welcome. This team, at the forefront of developing the MAgPIE and LPJmL models, fostered an inspiring learning environment through their expertise, guidance, and perspectives. This resulted in numerous learning opportunities via presentations, discussions, literature reviews, lunch talks, and get-togethers. Topics that were covered include various downscaling approaches, their advantages and disadvantages, the (potential) availability of data, insights into expected challenges that may arise, and an enhanced understanding of how to enhance the relevance of the dataset to the scientific community. This all resulted in the set-up of a conceptual framework for downscaling the annual nitrogen budgets to a monthly budget. Filled with plenty of ideas, I am much looking forward to (future) collaborations between the Land Use and Resilience group at PIK and my home team, the Earth Systems and Global Change Group at Wageningen University & Research. One of the key focuses will be the further development of the monthly nitrogen budget and its implementation into the seasonal MARINA-Multi model. The resulting manuscript may open exciting opportunities for studying the impacts of climate change on seasonal nitrogen pollution to rivers across sectors. Herewith, this STSM marked the start of strengthened connections between the Land Use Management, Agricultural, and Water Quality sectors. I am excited to see where this takes us in the future.

Lastly, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my hosts: dr. Michael Crawford and Felicitas Beier. I greatly appreciate your warm welcome and the effort you put into making my visit productive and enjoyable. Moreover, I would like to thank EU Cost Action (CA19139 PROCLIAS) for making this STSM possible.