Professor Gerold Wefer has passed on the leadership of MARUM to marine geologist and climate modeler, Professor Michael Schulz. The changeover signifies the end of an era for the Bremen Center for Marine Environmental Sciences. It began 27 years ago when Wefer was appointed Professor of General Geology at the University of Bremen, and culminated with MARUM being granted the status of an Excellence Cluster in 2007 and prolongation of funding within the frame of the Excellence Initiative in 2012.
The start of the era was quite a challenge: In 1985 when Gerold Wefer decided to move from Kiel to Bremen and join a small team of colleagues to build up the Faculty of Earth Sciences with a research concentration on marine research, the University had not yet become a member of the German Research Foundation (DFG). This came one year later. The first big success was quick to follow: the DFG selected the University of Bremen to host one of its very first collaborative research centers. It bore the title “The South Atlantic in the Late Quarternary” and Gerold Wefer became its lead scientist. This collaborative research center was just the start of the journey which eventually led to international recognition as an Excellence Cluster. Wefer went on to build up a supremely competent team, organize a large number of research voyages, and produce an impressive list of publications—the 68-year-old can look back over more than 30 voyages on German and international research vessels, and no less than 300 publications. He will continue to work for MARUM and assist his successor wherever he can.
Although truly a challenge, Professor Michael Schulz sees it as his duty to match his predecessor’s devoted commitment: “In the coming years, we face the task of securing a sustainable future for MARUM. In concrete terms this means we have to strengthen cooperation with our non-university partners and further consolidate MARUM’s position as a research center within the University of Bremen”. Michael Schulz finds it particularly important that MARUM continues to live up to its reputation for providing an environment that promotes scientific and technological creativity and attracts the best researchers.
Like Wefer, Michael Schulz also started his career at the University of Kiel. After completing his studies in Marine Biology and being awarded his doctorate, he stayed in Kiel from 1998 to 2002, before moving to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in den USA. He also worked at the Meteorological Institute of the University of Hamburg before being appointed to a professorship in Bremen. His main research interest lies in climate modeling. He has been Deputy Director of MARUM since 2005. You can find further information under www.marum.de/PR.html .
Contact / Interviews / Photos:
Albert Gerdes
MARUM – Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften
Universität Bremen
Phone: 0421 218-65540
e-mail: agerdesprotect me ?!marumprotect me ?!.de
