Iliana Baums appointed

Evolutionary ecologist and coral expert Prof. Dr Iliana Baums has been appointed to a joint professorship in Marine Conservation at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven.

Within the framework of the joint professorship Baums will conduct research at the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) at the University of Oldenburg on how to increase the adaptive potential of marine ecosystems to changing environmental conditions. Before coming to Oldenburg, she was Professor of Marine Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Pennsylvania State University (USA).

Baums studied biology in Tübingen, Bremen and Miami (USA), where she completed her doctorate in 2004. She held post-doctoral positions at the University of Miami and the University of Hawaii (USA). In 2006, she moved to Pennsylvania State University, where she first conducted research and taught as an assistant professor and then became a full professor in 2019 Her main research focus is genetics and coral reef restoration. She combines findings and perspectives from genomics, ecology, evolutionary research and oceanography to gain a better understanding of the processes that shape marine life, with the goal of maintaining the diversity and productivity of marine ecosystems.