Véronique Helfer

Véronique Helfer is a Senior Scientist at the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) GmbH, working in Programme Area 4 – Ecosystem Co-Design towards a sustainable Anthropocene and the Working Group Mangrove Ecology. Her research focuses on mangrove ecosystems, their protection, restoration, and resilience to global change.

Using interdisciplinary approaches, she investigates factors driving microbial, faunal, and floral community composition in mangroves and how these translate into ecosystem services. Her work spans molecular biology (eDNA metabarcoding, landscape genetics), chemical ecology, functional ecology, and species distribution modeling.

Recent publications highlight her expertise in mangrove canopy gaps, Blue Carbon verification frameworks, and interdisciplinary research. She has contributed to stakeholder initiatives like the sea4soCiety project and the Floating Mangroves energy solutions publication.

Her educational background includes a 2010 PhD in Conservation Genetics from the University of Lausanne (supervised by Fumagalli L), with prior educational brochures on evolutionary biology and alpine ecosystems.