Sebastian Ferse

Dr. Sebastian Ferse is a Senior Scientist at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), affiliated with the Office for Knowledge Exchange in the Programme Area 'Ecosystem Co-Design towards a sustainable Anthropocene'. Based in Indonesia, his research integrates ecological and socio-economic approaches to address coral reef sustainability, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions in tropical coastal systems.

His interdisciplinary work focuses on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, coral reef community assembly, restoration techniques, and sustainable livelihood strategies. Key themes include:

• Ecological impacts of mariculture and small-scale fisheries
• Fish-habitat interactions under anthropogenic stress
• Patron-client dynamics in resource governance
• Transdisciplinary co-design for ocean sustainability

Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on climate resilience, conservation policy, and socio-ecological trade-offs. Dominant trends include coral reef restoration frameworks, fisheries management innovations, urbanization impacts on marine ecosystems, and equitable knowledge co-production in marine science.

He leads/co-leads multiple international projects including ongoing initiatives (MOOBYF, TemPe, 4D REEF) and recently concluded programs (LeNa Shape, PACPATH, REEF FUTURES, SOCPacific, REPICORE, SPICE III, TRIPLE C) focused on ecosystem resilience, coastal governance, and scenario planning.

Through ZMT's knowledge exchange framework, he coordinates interdisciplinary teams examining marine social-ecological systems across Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, and global tropical reef networks.