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The project MonitorShrimp, which is making considerable strides in improving animal welfare and performance in the context of shrimp farming, is the outcome of a consortium combining the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Oceanloop and Sander Holding. Over the past two years, the participating researchers have developed a computer vision system that allows early detection and monitoring of the tiny creatures’ growth, population size, mortality and stress.

Germany’s watercourses, including the Elbe River, are polluted by external discharges from industry, agriculture, and sewage treatment plants. However, this pollution changes along the course of the river - as a result of many sources of pollution and because degradation processes change the substances. In a joint measurement campaign, researchers from several Helmholtz Centres, including the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI),  want to take a closer look at how environmental chemicals, nano- and microplastic…

“NOVAFOODIES” is a new AWI project, which has been funded by the Horizon Europe program with a budget of about 6 million euros, that aims to transform the value chain of food production from marine and freshwater resources, to achieve new food products for human consumption. One goal the project is, to demonstrate the sustainable production of macro- and microalgae, and fish species, as a basis for novel functional food and feed production. NOVAFOODIES gathers 28 international partners.

What impact does macroalgae cultivation for sustainable packaging production have on the environment? A research project titled "Life cycle assessment of land-based seaweed cultivation for packaging material" is dedicated to this topic, which was developed in cooperation with the AWI, the University of Latvia, Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology and the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. The project aims to provide vital data on the enviromental impact of this study using a Life Cycle Analysis (LVA). To the original press release

Angelika Humbert from AWI and Tilman Bucher from DLR took the third place in the category "Jury Award" at the Helmholtz Imaging Contest 2023. The winners were announced during the award ceremony on June 15th at the third Annual Helmholtz Imaging Conference. The awarded photo was taken with a MACS camera on the 79°N Glacier, developed by DLR-OS. The prize, which is worth 600 euros, is donated by Beiersdorf. More information

During a 10-day guest research visit, the Traversing European Coastlines team sampled soil, sediments, shallow water and aerosols at the coastal site of Sylt. The AWI site was one of 46 planned stations in 22 different countries where the TREC team from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL for short) is collecting samples and environmental data at land-sea interfaces to assess the response of different organisms to natural and man-made environmental factors.

In 2003, AWI and the French polar research institute Paul-Émile Victor merged their stations Koldewey and Rabot on Svalbard to form the AWIPEV base. Yesterday, the anniversary of the research cooperation was celebrated together at the French Embassy in Berlin. In addition to French Ambassador François Delattre, IPEV Director Yan Ropert-Coudert and AWI Director Antje Boetius also attended the event. Both signed a declaration to continue the Franco-German cooperation in the future. More info

The “Germany-Iceland Clean Energy Summit” will be held in Berlin on June 12th. The summit brings together government officials, businesses and civil society groups from Iceland and Germany to discuss how international cooperation can be increased to achieve climate goals. Besides the German federal minister for economics and climate protection Robert Habeck, AWI director Antje Boetius will also take part in a discussion. She will speak about the future challenges and opportunities that will arise related to the climate. More information

This year's World Oceans Day is themed: Planet Ocean - Tides are changing. The central celebration will take place at the United Nations in New York from 10:00 local time (16:00 CEST). Prof. Dr Hans-Otto Pörtner, biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute and Co-Chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will give the keynote lecture "Ocean x Climate" at 11:40 local time (17:40 CEST).

A successful cooperation in international polar research celebrates its 20th anniversary. In 2003, the German Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the French Polar Research Institute Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) merged their stations Koldewey and Rabot on Svalbard to form the AWIPEV base. Since then, scientists from both countries have jointly been conducting research there on the effects of climate change in the Arctic as part of the Ny-Ålesund research station coordinated by Norway. The anniversary of the successful partnership will be celebrated on June 14,…