Michael L. Zettler

Dr. Michael L. Zettler heads the Benthic Ecology Group at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde in Rostock, Germany. His research focuses on benthic organism taxonomy, marine habitat assessment, and ecological interactions in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and global oxygen-minimum zones (e.g., Chile, Namibia, Antarctica). He chairs the State Committee for Malacology at NABU Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, specializing in freshwater mollusk and crustacean ecology.

Zettler's research integrates field sampling, video mapping, and modeling to study benthic colonization patterns, habitat sensitivity, and conservation frameworks like the EU Water Framework Directive. His work includes extensive species discovery, with over 30 new marine taxa described, spanning gastropods, bivalves, amphipods, and polychaetes from Angola to Antarctica.

He has authored key identification manuals for Baltic/North Sea bivalves and amphipods, and leads projects assessing benthic communities under climate and anthropogenic stressors. His team collaborates globally on macrozoobenthos research from Namibia to the Canadian St. Lawrence River.