Judith Hauck is a marine biogeochemist and focuses on research into the carbon cycle in the oceans, particularly in the polar regions. Together with her team, she develops biogeochemical models to simulate the uptake and storage of carbon in the oceans and to better understand how physical and biological processes influence this. She pays particular attention to feedback loops in the carbon cycle and how these change under different climate conditions and human emission pathways. Hauck is coordinating the assessment of the carbon sink in the ocean for the Global Carbon Project (GCP) report.
Hauck, who completed her doctorate at the University of Bremen in 2012, is returning with a clear goal: “I'm looking forward to establishing a group to model biogeochemical cycles in the polar ocean in the long term,” she explains. She is particularly fascinated by the Southern Ocean, which, although geographically distant, has a direct influence on our climate, and is especially interested in the question of how much of the CO₂ emissions caused by humans are absorbed and stored there. In her new position, she also sees great opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. “The Bremen/Bremerhaven region offers excellent conditions for marine, climate, and polar research,” she emphasizes. Hauck underscores the close cooperation with marine biologists and climate modelers, which is invaluable for her research.
Judith Hauck studied marine environmental sciences in Oldenburg (2003 to 2008) and completed her doctorate in 2012 at the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Over the course of her career, she studied in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and completed research stays in Norway, the USA, Switzerland, and Australia. Since 2018, she has been leading the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group on Marine Carbon and Ecosystem Feedbacks in the Earth System. In 2022, she received an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to research the carbon cycle in the ocean after the emission peak. Hauck is deputy head of the Marine Biogeosciences Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute.
