Dr Jenna Balaguer with her dissertation on the role of micronutrients for phytoplankton growth in the Antarctic and Dr Jonas Preine with his dissertation on the development of the marine volcanic field in the southern Aegean have been awarded the Annette Barthelt Prize 2024. The award is associated with a research grant of 6000 euros funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was presented on Friday at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
![[Translate to English:] Annette-Barthelt-Preis 2024: Preisträgerin Dr. Jenna Balaguer](/fileadmin/_processed_/c/2/csm_20240322_BartheltPreis2024-0088_MaikeNicolai-GEOMAR_ffc4233a23.jpg "Jenna Balaguer")
Dr Jenna Balaguer, born on 9 November 1993, completed her dissertation entitled “Iron and Manganese Co-Limitation – A potential driver of Southern Ocean Phytoplankton ecology” at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven and the University of Bremen. In her doctoral thesis, Jenna Balaguer investigated the co-limitation of iron and manganese in relation to phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean under the supervision of Dr Scarlett Trimborn (AWI). To this end, she conducted various culture experiments with dominant species of the Antarctic Ocean during and after the expedition PS124 with the research vessel POLARSTERN in 2021. Such experiments with trace metals such as iron and manganese are very challenging. She was able to determine that the availability of manganese in the presence of iron can favour certain microalgae species and thus influence the composition of the plankton community and carbon export. Dr Jenna Balaguer is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher at GEOMAR in Kiel. Further information can be found in this GEOMAR press release.