Klaus Jürgens

Klaus Jürgens is a Full Professor of Biological Oceanography at the University of Rostock and heads the Biological Oceanography Department at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) since 2003. His research integrates microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and oceanography to study aquatic ecosystems.

Education:

• 1981–1988: Biology, University of Konstanz
• 1990–1994: PhD, Max Planck Institute for Limnology
• 2000: Habilitation, University of Kiel

Research Interests: Prof. Jürgens investigates microbial processes in hypoxic marine systems (e.g., Baltic Sea redoxclines), trophic interactions in food webs, and protist diversity. His work addresses climate impacts on biogeochemical cycles, microbial adaptation to oxygen gradients, and carbon/nitrogen transformations in aquatic environments.

Publication Trends: Recent articles (2020–2025) emphasize microbial responses to environmental stressors, biogeochemical cycling in oxygen-deficient zones, and climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. Themes include polar microbiology, metagenomics, and ecological modeling, often using molecular and isotopic techniques.

Projects: He coordinates major initiatives:

• REDOX (DFG): Biogeochemistry of pelagic redoxclines
• BIOACID (BMBF): Ocean acidification impacts
• MOCA (DFG): Chemolithoautotrophic plankton communities
• BLUEPRINT (EU-BMBF): Microbial gene expression

Team: Leads a research group at IOW focusing on microbial oceanography, with collaborations across European marine institutes.