Sylke Wohlrab

Dr. Sylke Wohlrab is a Researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, based in Bremerhaven, Germany. She leads the Ecological Chemistry group, focusing on marine microbial ecology, phytoplankton dynamics, and climate change impacts. Her work integrates biochemical, genomic, and ecological approaches to study diatoms, harmful algal blooms (HABs), and microbial interactions in polar and coastal ecosystems.

Research interests include the physiological and genetic adaptations of marine microbes to environmental stressors, toxin production in phytoplankton, and the role of microbiomes in marine ecosystems. She has contributed to studies on Arctic and temperate diatoms, protist communities, and the effects of ocean acidification and warming on marine species.

Key projects involve investigating climate-driven shifts in phytoplankton communities, the ecological consequences of marine heatwaves, and the application of CRISPR-Cas9 for microbiome analysis. Her research has been published in high-impact journals, addressing topics such as thermal bottlenecks in fish, symbiotic carbon exchange in diatoms, and HAB dynamics in Norwegian coastal waters.