The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV – Deutsche Hochschulverband) honors Professor Antje Boetius as an excellent, multiple-award-winning scientist who uses extensive field research to examine the effects of climate change on the oceans and the diversity of life in the deep sea. Thanks to her research, Boetius is “an advocate of the oceans” who urges close international cooperation and is committed to promoting future-proof climate, nature, and environmental protection.
As an outstanding science communicator, she has for years succeeded in convincingly communicating her vital findings to a wide audience in a wide variety of media formats. The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers is convinced that her exemplary commitment will raise the reputation of academia in Germany and boost the reputation of the profession of university lecturers outside the academic environment.
“I warmly congratulate Antje Boetius,” says President of the University of Bremen Professor Jutta Günther. “We are proud to have such a dedicated and energetic scientist as Antje Boetius at the University of Bremen and the AWI. Her talent for conveying findings from polar and marine research to society in a generally understandable way is exemplary. Her enthusiasm for research and knowledge transfer is always a great inspiration to all of us.”
Antje Boetius: “I feel extremely honored by this great recognition. Universities, as places of diverse cross-linkable knowledge, are very important to me, and teaching and knowledge transfer in particular. By meeting with students at the University of Bremen, I always have my finger on the pulse. Interest in our earth’s systems and the role of the oceans and ice for our future has grown enormously, also beyond the excellent marine research here. We teachers carry great responsibility: for the transformation processes, the coming generations need complex knowledge, hope, and to be excited about the future. This award is a great signal.”
Multiple-Award-Winning and Internationally Networked Scientist
As Professor of Geomicrobiology in the Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Bremen, deep-sea researcher Antje Boetius is also involved in the MARUM Excellence Cluster at the University of Bremen. Since 2017, she has been Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen.
Antje Boetius has taken part in almost 50 expeditions on international research vessels. Her current research focuses on the effects of climate change on the ocean and the diversity of life in the deep sea.
In 2009, Antje Boetius received the highly endowed Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and was elected a member of the Leopoldina German National Academy of Sciences. She is the recipient of the DFG Communicator Award and the 2018 German Environmental Award and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2019.