Fostering excellent early-career research

The Prof. Dr. Werner Petersen Foundation once again fosters excellent scientific work and outstanding commitment to knowledge transfer at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel with its Young Scientist Awards. Four young researchers from the divisions Dynamics of the Ocean Floor, Marine Ecology and Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics were honoured. The awards come with prize money of 2,500 euros each. The foundation also granted two scholarships for research stays in the United States of America.

“The Prof. Dr. Werner Petersen Foundation is a firm partner in the promotion of outstanding research at GEOMAR – from the Young Scientist Awards to the Petersen Excellence Professorships. We thank the foundation and its Board of Directors from the bottom of our hearts for their continuous support. Especially for young researchers, the awards are an important recognition and motivation,” emphasises GEOMAR Director Professor Dr. Katja Matthes. “The work we acknowledge this year once again demonstrates the wide range of high-ranking research at GEOMAR. We congratulate the award winners on their success and wish them all the best for their future careers.”

The awardees and their work in detail:

Prizes for very good doctoral theses:

Dr. Gesa Franz: „Integrated Geophysical Analysis of Passive Continental Margins: Insights into the Crustal Structure of the Namibian Margin from Magnetotelluric, Gravity, and Seismic Data” (sehr gut/magna cum laude)

Dr. Gesa Franz contributed to an improved understanding of plate tectonic and geodynamic processes linked to continental breakup and the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean. Based on an analysis of multidisciplinary geophysical data and a comparison of different approaches, she was able to optimise a large three-dimensional geological model of the subsurface of the area. Furthermore, Gesa Franz performed a quantitative and qualitative geological evaluation that linked geophysical results with geological interpretations. This work increases the credibility of such interpretations and may be applied in future surveys in similar settings. Dr. Franz was supervised by Professor Dr. Christian Berndt from the Research Division Dynamics of the Ocean Floor.

Dr. Marina Khachaturyan: „Evolution of mitochondria and plastids across populations of a keystone marine plant Zostera marina“ (sehr gut/magna cum laude)

Dr. Marina Khachaturyan completed her doctoral degree in the MarData Helmholtz Graduate School for Ocean Data Science. Her thesis addressed population genetics and mutational dynamics in organellar genomes of the seagrass Zostera marina. Her work on extra-chromosomal genomes encompasses state-of-the art bioinformatic analyses as well as population genetic modelling embedded into theory. Dr. Marina Khachaturyan was supervised by Professor Dr. Thorsten Reusch and Professor Dr. Tal Dagan from Research Division Marine Ecology.

Dr. Tobias Schulzki: „Regional to Interhemispheric Connectivity of the Atlantic Ocean Circulation“ (sehr gut/magna cum laude)

Dr. Tobias Schulzki investigated the role of dynamic oceanic processes for connectivity in the Atlantic Ocean. He describes a wide range of scientific topics, from basin-wide changes associated with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) to regional connectivity of deep currents. Interdisciplinary applications, here on the connectivity of larvae that drift with deep currents, round off the work. The method development of a sophisticated high-resolution all-Atlantic configuration and the special method of partial coupling between atmosphere and ocean are also important aspects of this dissertation, which was supervised by Professor Dr. Arne Biastoch from the Research Division Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics. As a post-doctoral researcher in the Ocean Dynamics research unit, Dr. Tobias Schulzki will in future be involved in the mareXtreme mission of the German Marine Research Alliance and in the METAscales network.

Outstanding commitment to knowledge transfer

Dr. Angela Stevenson: “Underwater community gardening” and Wild Postcard project

Dr. Angela Stevenson is being honoured for two projects: Firstly, she is making an important contribution to seagrass restoration and the strengthening of numerous ecosystem services provided by these underwater meadows. The currently most effective method, the transplantation of individual seagrass shoots, is extremely time-consuming and requires the help of divers. To overcome this bottleneck, Dr. Stevenson developed and organised a course in “underwater community gardening” where citizen scientists with advanced diving certification learn how to replant seagrass. She successfully ran a pilot course in collaboration with the marine conservation organisation Sea Shepherd. For future activities, she has already built up a database of hundreds of interested people.

Her second commitment addresses a younger target group: As co-founder and director of the Wild Postcard Project, Dr. Angela Stevenson inspires children all over the world to engage artistically with the climate and biodiversity crisis. With her project, she is changing the perception and understanding of local biodiversity among children and adults to address the lack of awareness and strengthen the commitment to nature conservation. She is currently organising "Biodiversity Art Open Studio Days" for disadvantaged children and adults.

Exchange grants

Anna Jegen: Research visit at the University of California

Anna Jegen, a PhD student in the field of earthquake seismology at the Research Division Dynamics of the Ocean Floor will spend a research visit at the Active Tectonics Research Group at the University of Berkley, California in the United States of America. She is currently working on seismology data from the Rodriguez Triple Junction in the Indian Ocean, aiming to understand its seismogenic activity and map the distribution of seismicity along the three arms of this geological formation. She is supervised by Professor Dr. Heidrun Kopp.

Vera Stockmayer: Research visit at the University of Hawaii

Vera Stockmayer, winner of the Otto Krümmel Prize 2022 and a Master's student on the Physics of the Earth System programme, will be working on her Master's thesis on tropical ocean variability during a stay at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, United States of America, where she will benefit from the expertise in El Niño research there. She will be supervised by Professor Dr. Joke Lübbecke, Professor Dr. Martin Visbeck and Professor Dr. Malte Stücker from the University of Hawaii.