Martin Pusch

Martin Pusch is a Research Group Leader and Programme Area Speaker at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany, where he leads the research group on Functional Ecology and Management of Rivers and Lake Shores within Department 2 (Community and Ecosystem Ecology).

His research spans multiple dimensions of aquatic ecology with particular focus on:

• Structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems
• River hydrodynamics and sediment processes
• Nutrient cycling and self-purification capacity of rivers
• EU Water Framework Directive implementation
• Ecosystem services of rivers and floodplains
• Hydropower impacts and environmental flows
• Integrative management of aquatic ecosystems

Dr. Pusch's recent publications (2022-2025) demonstrate a strong emphasis on river ecosystem services, hydropower impacts, and responses to environmental disasters, particularly the Oder River catastrophe. His work frequently involves large-scale European collaborative projects examining human impacts on river systems and developing integrative management approaches. He has been instrumental in developing the River Ecosystem Service Index (RESI) methodology and has contributed significantly to policy recommendations following environmental disasters.

He teaches courses at the University of Potsdam (Fundamentals of Stream Ecology since 2002, Applied Stream Ecology since 2003, and Ecology of Floodplains since 2018) and Humboldt University Berlin (Limnology I, focusing on running waters since 1996).

Dr. Pusch leads a research team comprising Dr. Gabriela Costea, Bianca Dörgeloh, Helena Huđek, Magnus Keller, Dr. Antje Kerkow, Tim Königsberger, Jürgen Schreiber, and Dea Zyruku, focusing on freshwater ecosystem research, management, and policy implementation.