Oldenburg. Prof. Dr. Oliver Zielinski, University lecturer for marine sensor systems, is the new head of the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment at the University of Oldenburg. He replaces Prof. Dr. Bernd Blasius, who forms still part of the governing body as a deputy director, together with Prof. Dr. Thorsten Dittmar, who joined in recently as well.

Zielinski, together with Jade University of Applied Sciences, is in charge of the scientific field „Marine Technology“ at the Wilhelmshaven site of the ICBM. Before he accepted a chair at the University of Oldenburg in 2011, he was a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremerhaven as well as head of the Bremerhaven Institute for Marine Resources. Zielinski studied physics in Oldenburg, where he completed his PhD in marine physics in 1999. Afterwards, he worked at the German Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz, as well as a member of the company management of a sensor manufacturer, for whom he conducted several international projects in marine environmental monitoring. Since 2016 the head of the ICBM working group „Marine Sensor Systems“ is a member of the working group „Citizen Science“ of the European Marine Board, moreover he coordinates a scientific project on coastal ocean darkening. As the new director, Zielinski aims at further strengthening the scientific profile and strategic orientation of the ICBM. In addition to dedicated university teaching he has a special focus on public relations and environmental education.