press release, 11. December 2024

Ecologist Stan Harpole and the team of bioenergy expert Daniela Thrän share the 2024 UFZ Research Award

This year, Dr Stan Harpole and the UFZ research team consisting of Dr Daniela Thrän, Dr Danial Esmaeili, Dr Matthias Jordan, and Nora Mittelstädt will be sharing the UFZ Research Award worth EUR 10,000. Stan Harpole is being recognised for his exceptional contributions to understanding the function of managed grassland and agro-ecosystems. The team led by Daniela Thrän is being recognised for advancing sustainable biomass use and thus contributing to climate neutrality in Germany. The jury praised their achievements for the outstanding quality, interdisciplinary approach, and considerable benefit to the environment and society.

Botanist and ecologist Stan Harpole develops and tests theories at the UFZ and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) to understand the effects of global change on plant communities. What drives biodiversity loss in grassland ecosystems? How does nutrient enrichment change their ecosystem functions? His research is based on the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) at the UFZ and the NutNet nutrient network, which spans over 100 sites worldwide. 

Harpole has demonstrated the importance of multi-trophic interactions in grassland and agro-ecosystems and how these landscapes can be managed to preserve ecosystem functions and biodiversity. He demonstrated that, over the long term, the increase in human nutrient inputs leads to the loss of more species than the gain of new ones in grassland. In addition, fewer new species settle under elevated nutrient conditions than under natural ones. Through field experiments, he proved that excess nutrients and/or the absence of herbivores resulted in less light reaching the lower vegetation layer of the grassland. As a result, a few fast-growing species dominate, thereby leading to a decline in plant diversity.

Harpole has refined ecological theories through his innovative and interdisciplinary research on nutrient limitation, resource competition, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity. His studies provide information on how terrestrial ecosystems work under different environmental conditions around the globe. This global perspective is crucial to solving environmental problems. 

Daniela Thrän, Danial Esmaeili, Matthias Jordan, and Nora Mittelstädt are successfully researching the sustainable use of biomass in net zero energy systems (i.e. What contribution can biomass make to Germany achieving the political goal of greenhouse gas neutrality in 2045?). For this purpose, the research team based at the UFZ Department of Bioenergy has developed the EE-Monitor web application, which visualises all renewable energy locations. The application contains 41 key nature conservation and energy economic indicators, which provide and explain comprehensive data and details on the nature compatibility of expanding renewable energies. The EE Monitor highlights issues in renewable energy expansion and thus serves as a valuable resource for social and political discussions.

In cooperation with scientists from the Deutsche Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ), the team has also developed a model that provides solutions for the sustainable use of biomass against the background of limited land areas and biomass resources. BENOPTex, an energy system optimisation model, identifies efficient biomass use pathways across energy sectors (electricity, heat, transport) in competition with fossil and renewable options through to 2050. It takes into account raw materials, conversion technologies, and vehicle types. It considers not only the energy sector but also sectors of the bioeconomy such as chemistry, nutrition, and negative emissions. The model has supported policy processes of the energy transition at the federal level (e.g. the bioenergy strategy, the biomass strategy, and the implementation of the mobility transition).

In addition to the Research Award, seven other awards were presented to employees of the UFZ in 2024:

Biologist Elisabeth Kühn is being presented with the "UFZ Communication Award" for her long-term, fact-based, and accessible communication about the Citizen Science project "Butterfly Monitoring Germany", which was launched at the UFZ in 2005.

This year, two researchers will be sharing the "UFZ Doctoral Award". Biochemist Dr Adrian Tüllinghoff is being recognised for his excellent work in photobiotechnology, which has allowed him to make important contributions to improving the quantitative understanding of light-driven production processes. Chemist Dr Carolin Huber is being recognised for her excellent work on new methods for the health-related determination of the pollutant load and the resulting effects.

Jeannette Hortig, assistant in the communications department of the UFZ, is being recognised for her commitment to the annual organisation of the UFZ summer festival. She shares the "UFZ Award for Outstanding Commitment" with technician Sandra Jäsch, who is being recognised for her many years of outstanding research support.

The team Dr Julia Herzig, Silke Rattei, and Annette Schmidt from the Research Funding Department are being awarded the "UFZ Administration Award" - for their own initiative, responsibility, and service awareness in the acquisition of third-party funding projects. 

Chemist Dr Daniel Zahn is being presented the "UFZ Supervision Award" for his outstanding commitment to the supervision of young scientists.

The "UFZ Young Scientists Award for Applied Research" goes to biologist Julia von Gönner for her excellent work within the framework of the Citizen Science project "FLOW: Researching flowing waters - creating knowledge together.

Lake researcher Dr. Bertram Boehrer is being recognised with the "UFZ Technology Transfer Award". He has developed a process up to the point of application that can be used to monitor lakes in which high concentrations of dissolved gases such as methane occur in deep waters such as Lake Kivu in Central Africa.

The UFZ has been honouring outstanding achievements of its employees with the UFZ Awards every year since 2014.

Further information

UFZ press office

Susanne Hufe
Phone: +49 341 235-1630
presse@ufz.de