Career insights online
Further career opportunities at OLTECH Graduate School Science, Medicine and Technology
“Career paths in Science, Medicine and Technology” offers you the chance to meet OLTECH alumni and other role models, to hear from their experiences, and to interact with them. You will learn about a variety of career paths and get insights into different areas of work, in particular jobs outside of academia.
Dr. Ferdinand Esser, MBA
Scientific Coordinator of Early Career Researchers (doctoral and postdoctoral researchers) of the ICBM
Coordination of the PhD program 'Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity' and of ICBM-Alumni network
Managing director of the Graduate School Science, Medicine and Technology (OLTECH)
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM)
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11
26129 Oldenburg, GERMANY
Phone: +49 (0)441 / 798-3171
Office: W15 0-031
E-mail: ferdinand.esser@uol.de
Career insights online
The seminar format "Career Insights Online" aims at introducing different career paths of marine scientists in the widest sense and offers the possibility to get in touch with former members of the Marine Graduate Schools in Oldenburg, Bremen and Bremerhaven. It focusses on career paths outside of academia and will give insights into job fields in, for example, industry, administration, consulting, non-governmental organisations and journalism. Speakers are asked to talk about their current position, the interdisciplinary skills they achieved during their doctoral phase, the career steps they took, as well as about work-family-life-balance. After a short presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to the speaker.
Click on the names of the speakers to find out where you can register for Career insights.
We are planning further career insights online in 2025. The speakers will be announced at least one month in advance.
| Speaker | Company | Date |
Dr. Julia Dürrschlag and N.N. | Research Associate, Examining Trends in Non-Monetary Benefit-Sharing (ET-NMBS) project
| August 22, 2025 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
Vivien Kudelka
and Dr. Oliver Jäckle-Tietjen | Vivien Kudelka Fisheries and Stakeholder Engagement Manager | Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): Vivien has been working at the MSC in Berlin for over ten years to promote sustainable fishing. After studying marine and fisheries biology, she now engages in dialogue with environmental organizations, scientists and authorities. In her talk, she explains how she found her way into international stakeholder work - and how the protection of the oceans is always at the center of her work. tba.
| June 20, 2025 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Merle works as a scientist for Bioinformatics at Sartorius Stedim Cellca GmbH, a company of the Sartorius group focusing on cell line development for the biopharmaceutical industry. She will give insights into how technical expertise and transferrable skills helped her move to industry and what to expect from a corporate environment. Moving to Denmark prior to defending his PhD in Geophysics / Geoscience (University of Hannover), Hannes found a job with the Danish engineering consultancy COWI A/S, Vejle/Denmark, starting in their Groundwater group. Over the years, Hannes shifted his focus to Offshore Wind and related offshore projects, where he has managed interdisciplinary teams as a Project Manager and Discipline Lead. He has now been with COWI for more than ten years in various roles, and has worked with a wide range of clients around the globe, focusing on Site Investigation, Geoscience Data Integration, and Installation Management. | April 25, 2025 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| After gaining experience in Environmental Microbiology and Data Analysis during his PhD at University of Bremen, Tobi started his career as a Regulatory Consultant in 2017. While climbing up the career ladder working for 2.5 years at TSG Consulting and more than four years at Exponent he became Director of Food Systems consulting at Farrelly & Mitchell in May 2024. Florian worked on several positions after he finished his PhD in Geosciences/ Geophysics during the first Corona wave in 2020, with a strong focus on data analyses and development of workflows. He used his skills at the regional authorities for geology in Saxony-Anhalt, as spatial analysis team lead / manager in the fields of mobile communications and in the project development of photovoltaic parks where he works for Blue Elephant Energy. | November 08, 2024 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Alexander Khachikyan | After gaining skills in data analysis during a PhD in Biogeochemistry, Alexander started his career building and optimizing robots with machine learning. In 2021, he joined PAYBACK, part of AMEX, where he works as Tech Lead and Lead Data Scientist, mastering ML, GenAI, and MLOps. Beyond his professional work, Alexander is passionate about teaching at events like Hacker School | September 13, 2024 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Mara Elena Heinrichs | After her PhD in Marine Geochemistry and Microbiology, Mara started her career as an environmental consultant at the global sustainability consulting firm ERM (Environmental Resources Management) in Frankfurt. She is involved in a variety of different projects, particularly the remediation of contaminated sites, helping private sector clients transition to a more sustainable future. | June 07, 2024 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Esther Thomsen | Dr. Esther Thomsen, a ZMT Alumna, will tell us her story how she proceeded her career after her PhD at Project Seagrass, an UK based environmental charity project. It is not only interesting for those who like seagrasses but also who consider working in UK, for environmental NGOs or in marine planning at the science-policy interface. | November 03, 2023 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Tim Kalvelage | After his PhD and four years as a postdoctoral researcher, Tim Kalvelage ventured into science journalism. He was an editor for the popular science magazine "Spektrum der Wissenschaft“ and now works as a freelance science reporter and photographer for major German speaking newspapers, magazines, and web news outlets. He mostly covers ocean and climate research and regularly accompanies scientists on field expeditions. In 2022 he published a book for kids and teens on research in the polar regions. | June 23, 2023 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| WWF Germany: After her PhD in Marine Governance in 2018, Janne started her career as Project Manager at the International Centre for Marine Conservation at WWF Germany. Between her Master Degree in International Development Studies at Amsterdam University (in collaboration with University of Cape Town) and starting her PhD Janne had worked as Policy Officer for Sustainable Ecosystems at the World Future Council. INTERACT Non-profit Association: Caro started working as Climate Science Communications Specialist at the Royal Meteorological Society (UK) already during the last year of her PhD, which she completed in 2019 (in permafrost sciences at AWI Potsdam). She then worked a few years as Polar Specialist for WWF-UK, mostly doing project management and outreach, and finally moved to the INTERACT Non-Profit Association as project manager when returning from maternity leave with her first child. In need of a mental challenge during her maternity leave, she started a business with two friends in North Wales which launched earlier this year – a beach sauna on a trailer (www.saunawales.co.uk)! She is now juggling her 2 jobs whilst expecting her second child in the summer. | April 21th, 2023 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career Insights Online - Federal WSV & ProBioGen AG After her PhD, Anne started her career as scientific employee at Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute and afterwards Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. Now she is head of hydrology at Waterways and Shipping Office Weser-Jade-Nordsee at Wilhelmshaven and is responsible for the hydrographic concerns of the Jade. ProBioGen is a service provider and technology developer for biopharmaceuticals, where David worked first in Business Development and now as Project Leader. He leads multidisciplinary teams with experts from upstream and downstream process development, manufacturing, quality control and quality assurance. Besides, he will elaborate on how extracurricular activities (internship, club activities, PR) supported his career. | March 10th, 2023 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Matthias Winkel | Career Insights Online - This time: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment In January 2021, Matthias started his current career challenge as scientific assistant at the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR = Federal Institute for Risk Assessment). After several years of research focussing on Earth Science in the Sections of Geomicrobiology and Interface Geochemistry at the Helmholtz-Centre GFZ Potsdam, at the BfR he now is responsible for food safety with a special focus on the allergenic potential of food ingredients. | December 2nd, 2022 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career Insights Online – Science Communication: Creative Writing & Illustrating Stephanie and Paula met while working on their PhD thesis at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), for which they both did research in Zanzibar. Together they have now published "The Heroes of the Underwater Forest", a children's book that aims to inform and inspire about seagrass meadows and to preserve this ecosystem. After her PhD in 2015, Julia started her career as scientific coordinator of the international exhibition on “Ocean Plastics Lab”. As science communicator of “Plötzlich Wissen!” and author of “Wenn Haie leuchten” she introduces the marine environment to the public. | June 24th, 2022 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career Insights Online – Climate change advice and information & environmental education Since 2020, Mithra is working for the "Lower Saxony Competence Center for Climate Change (Nds. Kompetenzzentrum Klimawandel, NIKO)" as an expert on ground water. The Competence Center is the central point in Lower Saxony when it comes to climate change and its effects. They advise and inform on climate change, its consequences and adaptation to climate change. Since 2019, Valeria is head of the Watt Welten Visitor Center Norderney (Wattenmeer-Besucherzentrum Norderney). As a marine biologist, she has worked in the fields of research, policy consulting, environmental education and public relations and has traveled to various coasts around the world. | April 22th, 2022 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
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| Since 2016, she is working as labteam leader “Microbiology” at BASF SE, Ludwigshafen. BASF is a company with more than 100.000 co-workers, creating chemistry for a sustainable future. As Patent Attorney candidate Jannes is working at Eisenführ Speiser since March 2021. Eisenführ Speiser is a full-service IP law firm with a mixed team of specialists including both patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law. At its four locations in Bremen, Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg, Eisenführ Speiser serves a broad national and international client base. | February 25th, 2022 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Dr. Nadine Lehnen | Career Insights Online – Careers at Industry: Thermo Fisher Scientific As Digital Sales Representative she is now working at Thermo Fisher Scientific since a couple of months. At the Career Insights Online event in September 2020, she got attracted of this job field by the former ICMB alumnus Dr. Marvin Dörries. | December 10th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
Career Insights Online - German Federal Authorities BSH & BAM works at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany in a Marine chemistry lab (BSH) in Hamburg As member of the research staff at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung BAM), Frank is developing his own research program with research on biofilms, single-cell microbiology, and environmental microbiology in the frame of biocide resistance | September 24th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting | |
| Career Insights Online – Federal authority & national reserach services Patricia works at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) in Hamburg as Hydrographic Surveyor. She reviews seabed data from the North Sea and Baltic Sea e.g. for use in nautical charts but also develops new procedures to acquire and process the data. Daniel works for the University of Hamburg at the Department of Informatics, as part of the working group scientific computing, which is integrated into the German | June 25th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career Insights Online – Advisors in Bioinformatics and Fisheries works as advisor for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. After her PhD in 2013 she also gained work experience at the WWF.
| June 4th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career insight online - Governmental research & services works at the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA) as research assistant in the Biocides department and reviews whether biocidal products and their active substances pose a risk for the environment. works for the German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) as a project scientist at the Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory – Richard Aßmann Observatory in the ground-based remote sensing department and pilots the implementation of new instruments into the DWD’s operational network. | April 30th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting |
| Career Insights Online – of ICBM and MPI alumni is starting her next career step at Thermo Fisher Scientific soon. Currently she is PostDoc at Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan. Medical Advisor Oncology, since February at The Janssen Pharma-ceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. After a PostDoc at BASF, she gained several years of work experience at Pfizer and AstraZeneca. | March 26th, 2021 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
| Career insight online - Science Management Executive Assistant for Appointment Management Representative | February 26th, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:00 online meeting |
Career Insights Online – of ICBM and ZMT Alumni Adviser for Marine Environmental Protection and Pollution Response, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, The Bremen Ministry for Climate Protection, the Environment, Mobility, Urban and Housing Development. Is working at Deutsches Museum München in an EU-Project and research assistant at Technical University München, AG Heckl, scientific communication. Previously employed at the German Marine Research Consortium, EU Office Brussels. | January 22nd, 2021 at 14:00 - 15:00 online meeting | |
Career Insights Online - Companies in Bremen Sandra and Mischa, after gaining their doctoral degrees in 2013 and 2017, both started their career in companies in the vicinity of Bremen. Sandra is project coordinator within the Business Area Microbiology & Diagnostics at Bruker Daltonics working closely together with R&D, product management, regulatory affairs, quality management, and finance. Mischa is working as data scientist at PlanBlue in a team of entrepreneurs and engineers whose mission is to protect, explore and reveal the unknown 95% of our ocean via a cutting-edge technology. | December 4th, 2020 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting | |
Career Insights Online – of ICBM and ZMT Alumni Dr. Hauke Kegler: Projektkoordinator (Wissenschaftsmanagement, GIZ-Projekt: New Digital Technologies for Marine Biodiversity Data Handling in East Africa), Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung; davor: Projektkoordinator "Green Shipping Niedersachsen" Dr. Siri Hoppenau is Alumni of ICBM and now working at " Oldenburgisch-Ostfriesische Wasserverband (OOWV) responsible for Water Management Information and Knowledge Management (Wasserwirtschaftliches Informations- und Wissensmanagement) | November 6th, 2020 at 14:00 - 15:30 online meeting | |
| Career Insights Online – of ICBM and AWI Alumni Dr. Marvin Dörries is Alumni of ICBM and now workig as sales manager at Thermo Fischer. Dr. Caroline Coch is Alumnin of POLMAR and working as polar specialist in sceince and conservation at WWF UK | September 25th, 2020 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting |
Helga and Niels both are alumni of the Marine Graduate Schools in Bremen which, after gaining their doctoral degrees in 2018 and 2019, started their career in the field of ecological consulting. Helga is now working at Bureau Waardenburg bv, The Netherlands, coordinating, executing and analysing large scale environmental monitoring programs for large estuaries. Niels is working at Royal Haskoning DHV, The Netherlands, providing insight and solutions to guarantee excellent water quality for nature and society. | July 24th, 2020 at 14:00 – 15:30 online meeting | |
| Dr. Hanna Manßen | Hanna is editor and project manager for the Thieme Group in Stuttgart, Germany. She studied Biology, Chemistry and Physics at the University of Oldenburg and worked as PhD at the ICBM in the group “General and Molecular Microbiology” of Prof. Rabus for the SFB Roseobacter. | June 19th , 2020 at 14:00 – 15:30, online meeting via BigBlueButton |