New ICBM permanent exhibition at the Wittbülten Environmental Centre

The ICBM's new permanent exhibition at the Wittbülten Environmental Centre was opened on Saturday 21 March. On the one hand, the exhibition area documents the close links between the scientific work and the centre's excellent infrastructure, which made co-operation between the university and the environmental education facility possible in the first place. On the other hand, visitors are given an insight into the ICBM's current research on the island in the Wadden Sea. Three main areas of ongoing research at the Institute are currently presented here:

• 12 artificial islands are located in the Wadden Sea of Spiekeroog in the immediate vicinity of the Environmental Centre. The exhibition shows a model of one such island; they were deployed as part of the joint project BEFmate. In the coming years, they will give scientists an insight into how bacteria, plants and animals take possession of newly emerging islands and how they help or hinder each other in the process.
  
  
• The continuous collection of data via the permanent measuring station developed as part of a DFG project in the Otzumer Balje south-west of Spiekeroog.
  
  
• Optical bases for sensors, the scientists' "sensory organs". The accompanying hands-on exhibit also informs visitors about the Citclops citizen science project: owners of smartphones or tablet PCs can participate in scientific research by taking measurements themselves.
  
  New and further developed sensors, an essential facet of ICBM research, are also tested on the permanent measuring station under real research conditions. The data collected serve as a basis for the Institute's biogeochemical research and are incorporated into the Institute's mathematical modelling calculations, which are also key pillars of ICBM research.