Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner

Science offers much more freedom than we use. This is a dilemma of science: we are not brave enough, we are not uncomfortable enough, we do not use freedom enough. The greatest responsibility actually lies with those who have the privilege of a permanent position in science. They have to think big, start long-term projects, and set an example for the community.

(Klement Tockner, 2018)

Curriculum vitae

Klement Tockner is Director General of Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research and Professor for Ecosystem Science at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main (since 2021). He was President of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF; 2016-2020), Professor for Aquatic Ecology at the Freie Universität Berlin (2007-2020) and Director of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin (2007-2016). He received a PhD in Zoology and Botany at the University of Vienna (1993) and a titular professorship at ETH Zurich (2005).

He was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Aquatic Sciences (2005-2014) and is Editorial Board Member of the journal Ecosystems. He has published around 250 scientific papers, including more than 200 ISI articles. In 2009, he published a comprehensive book on European rivers (“Rivers of Europe”, Elsevier / Academic Press; 2nd edition in 2022). Klement Tockner is an internally leading aquatic ecologist. His research focuses on biodiversity, river basin management and the role of science in society. His current research interests include the ecology of dry rivers, the consequences of large-scale infrastructure projects (e.g., dams, water transfer schemes) worldwide, and the coupling of biological and cultural diversity.

Klement Tockner has successfully led large inter- and transdisciplinary projects such as the “BioFresh” project funded by the European Commission. He advises scientific institutions worldwide on their strategic development and is a member of several committees and advisory boards, including the German Science and Humanities Council and the University Council of the University of Salzburg, Austria. He is an elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz. For the FWF, he received the Wikimedia Prize for “Open Knowledge” in 2019, and he was named “National Champion” of the first Frontiers Planet Prize (2023).

Boards

BC – Biology Center of the CAS, České Budějovice, Czech Republic (Member)

NIES – National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (Member)

BfG – Federal Institute of Hydrology, Bonn, Germany (Co-Chairman)

ICRA – Catalan Water Research Institute, Girona, Spain (Member)

Career / Employment History

Since 2021 Director General of the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research

Since 2021 Professor for Ecosystem Sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt

2017-2021 Head of the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity – ÖAWI, Vienna, Austria

2016-2020 President of the Austrian Science Fund – FWF, Vienna, Austria

2007-2020 Professor for Aquatic Ecology at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

2007-2016 Director of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany

2005 Titulary Professorship at ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2004 – 2005 Guest Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA

2002 JSPS research fellow at the Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

1999 – 2007 Group leader at EAWAG/ETH, Dübendorf, Switzerland

1996 – 1999 Assistant professor (‘Oberassistent’) at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

1994 – 1996 Postdoctoral fellow at University of Vienna, Austria

1993 – 1994 Freshwater consultant in Rwanda and Uganda, Africa

1993 Ph.D in Zoology & Botany at University of Vienna, Austria

MEMBERSHIPS and AWARDS (selection)

since 2022 Elected member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz

since 2015 Elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina – National Academy of Sciences

since 2012 Elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

2023 “National Champion” of the first Frontiers Planet Prize

2019 Wikimedia “Austrian Prize for Open Knowledge” (FWF)

2013 Fenner Lecture (UNC Chapel Hill, USA)

2012 Margalef Lecture (Guimares, Portugal)

2002 Fellow of JSPS (Sendai, Japan)

1999 Reinhard Liepolt Prize for Danube Research, Austria

Current activities

since 2024 WR – German Science and Humanities Council (Member)

since 2023 DB – Deutsche Bank (Member of Nature Council)

since 2023 Paris Lodron University Salzburg, PLUS, Austria (Member of the University Council)

since 2023 WCL – WasserCluster Lunz/See, Austria (Member of the Scientific Advisory Board)

since 2023 BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria (Member of the Scientific Advisory Board)

since 2023 University of Basel, Switzerland, Department of Environmental Sciences (Member of the Scientific Advisory Board)

since 2023 Bruno H. Schubert Foundation, Frankfurt am Main (Chairman of the Board of Trustees)

since 2022 Sparkling Science 2.0 Program (OeAD) (Chairman of the Board of Trustees)

since 2022 Crespo Foundation, ArtNature/NatureArt Residencies in Glenkeen Garden (Member of the Jury)

since 2021 Johanna Quandt Young Academy at the Goethe-Institut (JQYA) (Co-Director)

since 2021 Messel Pit World Heritage Site (gGmbH), Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board

since 2021 Werner Reimers Foundation (Member of the Scientific Advisory Board)

since 2021 Paul Ungerer Foundation (Member of the Board of Trustees)

since 2005 Ecosystems (Editorial Board Member)

Editorial activities

Co-Editor of Aquatic Sciences: Transboundary Research (2015-2019)

Editor-in-chief of Aquatic Sciences: Transboundary Research (2005-2014)

Guest editor of four special issues in Aquatic Sciences, Freshwater Biology, Rivers Research and Application, Fundamental and Applied Limnology

Forschungsverbund Berlin

Speaker of a network of eight research institutes of the Leibniz Association (2011-2013), Co-Speaker (2015-2016)

Leibniz Association

Speaker of the Leibniz Biodiversity Network (LVB), a network of 22 institutes (2009-2014)

Speaker of the Section “Environmental Sciences” (Sektion E: Umweltwissenschaften; 2011-2013)

Prizes & Awards (Selection)

Elected member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz (elected 2022), elected member of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina (elected in 2015), elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (kMA, elected in 2012). “National Champion” of the first Frontiers Planet Prize (2023), Wikimedia Prize for “Freies Wissen” (FWF, 2019), Fenner Lecture (UNC-Chapel Hill, USA, 2013), Margalef Lecture (Guimares, Portugal, 2012), Fellow of JSPS, Sendai, Japan (2002), Liepolt-Prize for Danube Research (1999).

Publications

Books

Mehner T, Likens GE, Tockner, K. (Eds)(forthcoming) Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. Elsevier.

Tockner, K., Uehlinger U, Robsinson CT (Eds) (2009) Rivers of Europe. Elsevier/ Academic Press. 700 pages (2nd Edition: 2021)

Woolsey S, Weber C, Gonser T, Hoehn E, Hostmann M, Junker B, Roulier C, Schweizer S, Tiegs S, Tockner, K., Peter A (2005) Handbook for Evaluating Rehabilitation Projects in Rivers and Streams. A Publication of the Rhone-Thur Project. Eawag, WSL, LCH-EPFL, VAW-ETHZ. 112 pp.

Special Issues

Lewandowski J, Nützmann G, Tockner, K. (2014) (Eds) Frontiers in Real- Time Ecohydrology. Fundamental and Applied Limnology 184 (3).

Milner AM, Tockner, K. (2010) (Eds) Freshwater Benthic Science – what has it contributed to ecological theory? River Research and Applications 26.

Gurnell A, Tubino M, Tockner, K. (2009) (Eds) Linkages and feedbacks in highly dynamic alpine fluvial systems. Aquatic Sciences 71.

Tockner, K., Kollmann J, Edwards PE, Ward JV (2002) (Eds) Riverine Landscapes. Freshwater Biology 47.

Selected articles

*He, F., Zarfl, C., Bremerich, V., David, J. N., Hogan, Z., Kalinkat, G., Tockner, K. & Jähnig, S. C. (2019). The global decline of freshwater megafauna. Global Change Biology 25: 3883-3892.

Grill, G., Lehner, B., Thieme, M., Geenen, B., Tickner, D., Antonelli, F., … Tockner, K., Valdujo, P.H., van Soesbergen, A. & Zarfl, C. (2019) Mapping the world’s free flowing rivers. Nature 569: 215–221.

Jeschke, J., Lokatis, S., Bartram, I. & Tockner, K. (2019) Knowledge in the Dark: Scientific Challenges and Ways Forward. Facets 4: 423-441.

*Reid, A. J., Carlson, A. K., Creed, I. F., Eliason, E. J., Gell, P. A., Johnson, P. T., …..Tockner, K., … & Smol, J. P. (2019). Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity. Biological Reviews 94(3): 849-873.

Turnbull L, Hütt M-C, Ioannides AA, Kininmonth S, Poeppl R, Tockner, K., Bracken LJ, Keesstra S, Liu L, Masselink R, Parsons AJ (2018) Connectivity and complex systems: learning from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Applied Network Science 3:art.11

Datry T, Foulquier A, Corti R, von Schiller D, Tockner, K., …. C, Zoppini A (2018) A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non- perennial waterways. Nature Geoscience 11(7):497-503

*Tydecks L, Jeschke JM, Wolf M, Singer G, Tockner, K. (2018) Spatial and topical imbalances in biodiversity research. PLoS One 13(7):e0199327

*Tydecks L, Bremerich V, Jentschke I, Likens, GE & Tockner, K. (2016) Biological field stations: A global infrastructure for research, education, and public engagement. BioScience 66:164-171

Zarfl C, Lumsdon AE, Berlekamp J, *Tydecks L, Tockner, K. (2015) A global boom in hydropower dam construction. Aquatic Sciences 77(1):161-170

Acuña V, Datry T, Marshall J, Barceló D, Dahm CN, Ginebreda A, McGregor G, Sabater S, Tockner, K., Palmer MA (2014) Why should we care about temporary waterways? Science 343: 1080-1081.

*Muehlbauer JD, Collins SF, Doyle MW, Tockner, K. (2014) How wide is a stream? Spatial extent of the potential “stream signature” in terrestrial food webs using meta-analysis. Ecology 95: 44-55.

*Steward AL, von Schiller D, Tockner, K., Marshall JC, Bunn SE (2012) When the river runs dry: human and ecological values of dry riverbeds. Front. Ecol. Environ. 10(4):202-209

Pahl-Wostl C, Nilsson C, Gupta J, Tockner, K. (2011) Societal learning needed to face the water challenge. Ambio 40(5):549-553

Hölker F, Wolter C, *Perkin E, Tockner, K. (2010) Light pollution as a biodiversity threat. Trends in Ecol. Evol. 25:681-682.

Tockner, K., Pusch MT, Borchardt D, Lorang MS (2010) Multiple stressors in coupled river-floodplain ecosystems. Freshw. Biol. 55:135-151

*Tonolla D, Acuña V, Uehlinger U, Frank T, Tockner, K. (2010) Thermal heterogeneity in river floodplains. Ecosystems 13(5):727-740

Nakamura K, Tockner, K., Amano K (2006) River and wetland restoration: Lessons from Japan. Bioscience 56(5):419-429

*Paetzold A, Schubert CJ, Tockner, K. (2005) Aquatic terrestrial linkages along a braided-river: riparian arthropods feeding on aquatic insects. Ecosystems 8(7):748-759

Tockner, K., Stanford JA (2002) Riverine flood plains: present state and future trends. Environ. Conserv. 29(3):308-330

Ward JV, Tockner, K. (2001) Biodiversity: towards a unifying theme for river ecology. Freshw. Biol. 46(6):807-819

(* doctoral candidates)

Full list of articles on Google Scholar

Research

Currently, Klement Tockner is conducting research on the manifold ecological consequences of the worldwide expansion of hydropower, on the significance of drying waters for ecological processes and biodiversity, as well as on the development of sustainable and innovative management and protection strategies for freshwater systems.

Main focus

Klement Tockner is an ecologist and internationally leading freshwater scientist. His research focuses on the holistic study of biodiversity, floodplains and wetlands, and landscape ecology. In particular, his focus is on the interactions between hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes, and on the development of indicators for the assessment of aquatic ecosystems.

Research foundation (DFG)

Member of the DFG Commission for Biodiversity (2014-2016)
Member of Research Panel Water Research (Fachkollegium 318; 2012- 2016)
Permanent Guest of the DFG Commission for Water Research (KOWA; 2009-2016)

Research foundation (DFG)

Member of the DFG Commission for Biodiversity (2014-2016)

Member of Research Panel Water Research (Fachkollegium 318; 2012- 2016)

Permanent Guest of the DFG Commission for Water Research (KOWA; 2009-2016)

Twitter

Klement Tockner’s Tweetdeck

Videos

Tockner’s Topics on Film