Senckenberg am Meer

Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg


The research institute Senckenberg am Meer is a centre of worldwide biological and geological coastal and marine research with working areas from the North Sea coast to the deep sea and from the tropics to the polar regions. We study the impacts and risks of today’s environmental changes on marine ecosystems, their habitats and on changes in biodiversity with a broad spectrum of methods. Our expertise also includes the interpretation of biosphere crises in the geological past and has a focus on biogeographical distribution patterns of selected species using state-of-the-art molecular genetic methods.

The institute is led by Prof. Dr. Pedro Martínez Arbizu and consists of two departments, Marine Research (MEFO) and the German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), which has a location in Wilhelmshaven as well as Hamburg. Core competences of the 70 staff members are relevant to society e.g. in the fields of benthic and plankton long-term studies to characterise (supra-) regional climate and biodiversity changes, neobiota screening, geo-ecological biosedimentary systems, such as oyster reefs and deep-water coral reefs on seamounts and along continental margins, sediment dynamics, as well as in the assessment of environmental impacts and risks in deep-sea mining. In addition, Senckenberg am Meer has rich expertise in the field of taxonomy, using modern molecular and proteomic methods.

Major international projects play just as important a role for the scientists as the close networking with other marine research institutions in northern Germany and other Senckenberg research areas, such as the Department of Marine Zoology and Palaeontology and Historical Geology as well as the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden. The research infrastructure, such as the research vessel “SENCKENBERG”, is an elementary platform for carrying out our studies.

In addition, Senckenberg am Meer conducts teaching at universities and special training courses, advises industry and authorities on the assessment of the ecological state of our marine ecosystems and brings its own research results to the public in various formats.

News

Greetings from the research cruise M205, November 2024,
There are currently 18 Senckenberg scientists from 4 locations on board the research vessel METEOR. During the research cruise M205 (“RUBBLE”) we are exploring the seafloor in the deep sea of the North Atlantic. We are interested in the existence and significance of predicted rocky reefs at a water depth of approx. 4500-6000 m for the organism communities living there. The habitats are mapped acoustically and with imaging techniques and then sampled and analyzed geologically and biologically. m Picture from left to right. : Andreas Gärtner (SNSD, geologist, head of mineralogy), Marco Bruhn (SaM Wilhelmshaven, technician), Torben Riehl (SF, biologist & cruise leader), Achim Wehrmann (SaM Wilhelmshaven, geologist, head of actuopalaeontology), Franziska Iwan (SaM Wilhelmshaven, technician), Pedro Martínez Arbizu (SaM Wilhelmshaven, Biologist, Head of  SaM), Anchita Casaubon (SF, Biologist, PhD student), Nicole Gatzemeier (SaM Hamburg, Technician), Alexandra Möller (SaM Wilhelmshaven, Biologist, PhD student), Julia Jacoby (SaM Wilhelmshaven, Biologist, Master student), Alica Torkov (SF, Public Relations), Henry Knauber (SF, Biologist; PhD student), Angelika Brandt (SF, Biologist, Head of Marine Zoology), Linus Budke (SF, Geologist, Seafloor Imaging Specialist), Mats Henseler (SF, Biologist, Master’s student), Mandy Zieger-Hofmann (SNSD, Geologist, Head of Geochronology Laboratory). Not in picture: Angelina Eichsteller (SaM Wilhelmshaven, biologist  
Forschungsschiff Sonne
The NDR reports on the expedition CoralNewZ SO309 from 16.01.2025 – 15.01.2025 in the West Pacific.
André Freiwald from the Senckenberg am Meer research institute in Wilhelmshaven is leading the four-week expedition. Cold-water corals provide unique habitats for numerous marine organisms and thus promote biodiversity in deep-sea ecosystems. 36 researchers are involved in the expedition.
MARUM will broadcast the dives of the diving robot MARUM-SQUID from the Western Pacific live from on board the German research vessel SONNE. click here for livestream   Click here for the NDR report.   Click here for more info