Petersen Award for Prof. Dr. Adina Paytan

The distribution of nutrients and toxic substances on land and in the sea, the effects of ocean acidification, the development of the carbon cycle over hundreds of thousands of years - the list of research interests of Dr. Adina Paytan is rather long. In particular, this scientist, born in Israel, is known for the innovative ways in which she and her team approach these issues. Dr. Paytan is one of the world's most respected specialists when it comes to eliciting the history of marine sediments, corals and minerals by measuring the ratios of certain isotopes within the materials. For her pioneering work in this field, the researcher - who currently teaches and works at the University of California in Santa Cruz - has already received many international awards. In recognition of her outstanding academic achievements, the Prof. Dr. Werner Petersen Foundation, on Monday, September 23, will award her a Chair of Excellence which includes a research grant of Euro 20,000. The ceremony will be held in a public evening lecture at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

Title of her presentation: "Impacts of ocean acidification on coral reefs - perspectives from a field study in Mexico"

Location: Auditorium of GEOMAR, East-Shore Campus, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24118 Kiel

Time: Monday, 23 September 2013, 7:00 pm

You are cordially invited. Admission is free.
Please note that the lecture will be held in English.

The award is also connected with a two-week research visit of Dr. Paytan at GEOMAR. It addresses primarily the joint research projects with the "Marine Biogeochemistry" research department which also investigates the reconstruction of past and present environmental processes based on isotopic measurements. "Kiel, with the laboratories of GEOMAR and related facilities at the Christian-Albrechts-University, is one of the leading locations for isotope analysis throughout Germany and Europe," says Professor Dr. Anton Eisenhauer, head of the working group "Marine Isotope Geochemistry" at GEOMAR. "Together with Dr. Paytan we want to expand the transatlantic cooperation in this area even further. Many fundamental questions for understanding the earth system can only be answered with sophisticated analytical methods," the Kiel scientist explained.

To encourage the mutual scientific exchange during Dr. Paytan’s stay in Kiel, a scientific seminar series entitled "Application of Isotopes in Earth, Ocean and Environmental Research" will be held which is primarily aimed at young researchers in the Kiel marine sciences.

Background information:
In the 1980s, Dr. Paytan studied Geology and Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Subsequently, she worked initially as a teacher before she completed a Master’s degree in Oceanography. She then moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego (California), one of the largest marine research facilities worldwide. She earned her doctorate working on barium as an indicator of past environmental conditions in the ocean. Afterwards she worked for eight years at the prestigious Stanford University in California before in 2007 moving to the University of California at Santa Cruz. 

Contact:
Jan Steffen (GEOMAR, Kommunikation & Medien), Phone: +49-431 600-2811, jsteffen(at)geomar.de