In 2001, Prof Karen Wiltshire began investigating changes in the ecosystems of the North Sea, particularly in the Wadden Sea, in connection with anthropogenic and natural influences – like climate change – at the Alfred Wegener Institute. Five years later, she was appointed Vice Director and Director of the AWI’s Biological Institute Helgoland. After working more than two decades in the High North, she assumed a new position at Trinity College Dublin and will found a new climate institute in the Irish capital. For this purpose, she will be on leave. Prof Maarten Boersma, currently Speaker for the Biosciences Division at the AWI, is assuming her duties since 1 July.
From an early stage, Karen Wiltshire recognised the importance of long-term research and time series for the future of our oceans. At the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), she led the “Shelf Sea System Ecology” Section from 2009 to 2015 and has led the Coastal Ecology Section since 2013. During her time at the Biological Institute Helgoland (BAH), she has restructured the Helgoland Reede and Sylt Reede time series, enhancing their applicability for marine research. These time series from the North Sea are now among the most important marine datasets worldwide; they are integrated into climate models and used to assess current and future developments in marine ecology in connection with the climate.
“It’s been a pleasure working for the BAH and AWI. Together, we have oriented the excellent research conducted at Germany’s oldest oceanographic institute, the Biological Institute Helgoland, and the Wadden Sea Station on Sylt, and enhanced its international visibility,” says Karen Wiltshire about her time at the AWI. Since 15 July, the coastal researcher is creating a new institute at Trinity College in Dublin, one intended to bring together the Irish university’s national and international climate research and expertise under one roof and expand it further. The AWI will accompany Karen Wiltshire in her new role, building on the long-standing, excellent scientific ties between Germany and Ireland. The new institute will allow Trinity College and the AWI to collaborate more intensively, particularly on aspects like coastal protection, coastal use, climate protection through renewable offshore energy sources, new food webs, and sea-level rise.
Since 1 July, Maarten Boersma is assuming Karen Wiltshire’s duties. In mid-June, he was appointed Vice Director for Coastal Research by the AWI Board of Governors: “I’m very much looking forward to my new duties. My priority is to intensify international collaboration regarding the research conducted at our Sylt and Helgoland sites, and to build on the growing interest in implementing concrete measures for natural climate protection and marine conservation.” The AWI freshwater ecologist completed his basic sudies and PhD in the Netherlands and is a Professor of Biology/Chemistry at the University of Bremen. At the AWI, he heads the Shelf Sea System Ecology Section and serves as Speaker for the Biosciences Division. In the Working Group “Food Webs”, Maarten Boersma is investigating how external factors like available nutrients, temperature, light and carbon dioxide and internal interrelations affect the structure and dynamics of food webs.
Committed to the next generation of researchers and socially relevant topics
At the AWI, Karen Wiltshire has been passionate about preparing the next generation of researchers: for example, in addition to her professorship at Kiel University, she was responsible for the AWI’s Nippon-POGO Center of Excellence, which has trained 100 scholarship holders from around the globe in marine research over the past ten years. For many years, Karen Wiltshire served as Speaker for Coastal Research in the AWI’s research programme and the Helmholtz Research Field “Earth and Environment”. In this regard, she made essential contributions to driving Germany’s coastal research agenda forward and promoted interdisciplinary collaborations.
Moreover, Karen Wiltshire has consistently focused on major societal concerns during her time at the AWI. For example, she initiated the Strategy Group for Multi-Use and Marine Protected Areas at the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM). She promoted a dialogue oriented on the diverse range of stakeholders, even with regard to hotly debated topics like the expansion of offshore wind energy in Germany. As a cofounder of Scientists for Future, she regularly addressed key marine climate topics in international and national committees.
