Detail

Keywords

Botany; Climate Change; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Honey; Plant Dispersal; Pollen; Pollen Allergy; Pollination; Urbanization

Research interests

My main focus at the Medical University of Vienna are aerobiology, pollen analysis, plant phenology, and environmental monitoring in relation to climate change. I combine microscopic analysis of airborne pollen with plant monitoring in the field for basic research and to provide the most accurate pollen allergy forecast for Vienna.

As a researcher, I also use pollen analysis to assess the botanical and geographical origin of honey. I am actively involved in and contributing to the worldwide largest pollen reference database PalDat. Besides botany, I got exposed during my studies to the interdisciplinary mindset of political ecology and environmental peacebuilding.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

I use microscopical techniques for the pollen analysis of environmental samples, including light and electron microscopy. I also work in the validation of new molecular and optic methods in aerobiology and melissopalynology. For our routine analysis at the Medical University of Vienna, we monitor pollen collected in a Hirst style trap on the rooftop of the pathology building.

Selected publications

1. Koelzer, K. et al. (2024) ‘Trees Are a Major Foraging Resource for Honeybees in the City’, Plants, 13(21), p. 3094. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13213094.
2. Bastl, M. et al. (2025) ‘The Impact of Climate Change on the Urban Tree Ailanthus altissima: Insights from More than Four Decades of Pollen Data in Vienna (Austria)’, Plants, 14(24), p. 3823. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14243823.
3. Koelzer, K., Ribarits, A. and Weber, M. (2024) ‘Comparing the acetolysed and hydrated methods for the pollen analysis of honey’, Grana, 63(3), pp. 259–274. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2024.2348651.
4. Koelzer, K., Weber, M. and Ulrich, S. (2023) ‘Integration of the pollen database PONET into PalDat with new features for light microscopy’, Grana, 62(4), pp. 221–227. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2023.2256328.