Heiko Schmaljohann appointed

PD Dr. Heiko Schmaljohann has been appointed Professor of Migration Ecology at the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU).

An ornithologist, Schmaljohann has been a research associate at the University since 2017 and is also a visiting researcher at the Institute of Avian Research Vogelwarte Helgoland (ARV).

Schmaljohann studied biology in Kiel, York (UK) and Göttingen. After completing his doctorate at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and post-doctoral stays at the Swiss Ornithological Institute and the Institute of Avian Research in Wilhelmshaven, he earned his habilitation at the University of Oldenburg in 2013. He was then accepted into the German Research Foundation's renowned Heisenberg Programme.

As part of his fellowship, which he carried out at the Institute of Avian Research and then at the University of Oldenburg, he spent two years researching migratory birds in Alaska as a Research Associate at the University of Alaska (USA). Schmaljohann's research focuses on stopover ecology, orientation and navigation skills in migratory birds and their innate migration programme.