04.05.2016 Dr. Arjun Chennu awarded the Annette-Barthelt-Stiftung's Science Prize

In the annual ceremony of the Annette-Barthelt-Stiftung on 29 April at GEOMAR in Kiel, the prize winners of this year were honored. Dr. Arjun Chennu from the Max Planck Institute for Marine MIcrobiology received the award for his doctoral research, which involved the development of a hyperspectral imaging system for the study of marine microalgae. Recently, he demonstrated interesting applications of the technology for the ecological study of coral reefs.

"Receiving the prize is a great honor for me", said Chennu. "Winning public recognition for my doctoral thesis in marine sciences is very satisfying, since my educational background was in physics and engineering. This encourages me to pursue marine ecology further, towards which I will utilize the research stipend". After an introduction by Prof. Dr. Heide Schulz-Vogt from IOW in Warnemünde, Chennu delivered a short lecture for the audience. "It was my first lecture in German. I was about as nervous as during my doctoral defense. But I'm glad to say that it went quite well."

The other prize winner of this year was Isabel Sauermilch from the Alfred-Wegener-Institut in Bremerhaven. She received the prize for her outstanding master thesis about the sedimentology of the Arctic deep sea.

With its 27th annual ceremony, the Annette-Barthelt-Stiftung honors young scientists for oustanding research work in marine sciences. Through the prize it commemorates four young scientists from the erstwhile Kieler Institut für Meereskunde, who were fatal victims of a terrorist attack on 18 March 1987 in Djibouti while on a research expedition. The science prize is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through a research stipend of 3000 Euro.