© David Ausserhofer/IGB
Luc De Meester's tenure was marked by a series of significant developments. Notably, he successfully acquired the special item of expenditure (‘Sondertatbestand’) for Predictive Ecology in the Anthropocene, which will strengthen the IGB's research profile. Within this new programme area, IGB researchers are investigating how inland waters and their ecosystems will respond to global changes such as drought, flooding, changes in land use, and urbanisation. They are also exploring which nature-based solutions and management measures are suitable for counteracting these changes or mitigating their effects.
De Meester also initiated a comprehensive reorganisation of the research departments. The goal was to combine expertise and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. This resulted in the formation of two new departments: Ecology of Communities and Ecosystems, and Evolutionary and Integrative Ecology. Other departments, such as Fish Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry, were newly integrated. Additionally, new competence and technology platforms were established to promote research infrastructure enhancement, methodological innovation, and quality assurance.
The Board of Trustees of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V. has appointed Sonja Jähnig as interim scientific director until a new director is in place. Final consultations on the interim leadership are currently taking place with the Senate Department for Science, Health and Care.
Sonja Jähnig is a Professor of Aquatic Ecogeography at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prior to joining IGB as a research group leader in 2014, she obtained her PhD in river restoration and conducted postdoctoral research in China and at the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research. In 2022, she became Head of the Department of Ecology of Communities and Ecosystems. Her research focuses on the consequences of global change for rivers and their floodplains, as well as on global patterns of freshwater biodiversity.
