Curriculum vitae of Dirk S. Schmeller

Personal information

Date of birth:                        07/07/1970
Place of birth:                       Mannheim,Germany
Nationality:                           German
Contact details:                   

Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department of Conservation Biology, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig,                                                                                              
Language skills:                    German (mother tongue), Fluent in English, French, and notions in Spanish and Finnish.

Of heart a Palatinian (än eschde Gimmeldinger, eichentlisch).

 

Major academic appointments

Since December 2012: Senior Researcher at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department Conservation Biology and affiliated researcher at the CNRS EcoLab, Toulouse.
Since April 2014: Leader of GEO BON working group on terrestrial species monitoring and member of the Implementation committee of GEO BON (GEO BON member since 2009).
April 2016, September - October 2013, February 2012: Guest professor at the Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University.
August 2007-November 2012: CNRS Researcher at the Station d'Ecologie Experimentale du CNRS, Moulis, France.
August 2005 - April 2008: Coordinator of the FP6 EuMon-Project at the Helmholtz Center of Environmental Research (UFZ) Halle - Leipzig, Department Conservation Biology.
July 2005 - August 2006: EGIDE-Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Angers, Department of Zoology, Division of Animal Ecology.
June 2002 - July 2005: Postdoctoral fellow (Alexander-v.-Humboldt/Academy of Finland scholarship; KONE-scholarship) at the University of Helsinki, Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Population biology.
March 2002 - May 2002: Marie Curie-scholarship at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Evolutionary Ecology.
May 2000 - February 2002: Assistant professor at the Faculty of Biology, Department of Nature Conservation, University of Marburg.
February 1996 - April 2000: Scientific assistant at the Chair of Ecology, Department of Zoology V, University of Mainz.

 

Education

May 2009

l’Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR), University of Toulouse

April 1996 - September 1999
Study of geography with emphasis on climatology and geo-morphology.

April 1996 - September 1999
Completion of my PhD thesis on the hemiclonal inheritance of hy-bridogenetic waterfrogs and its impact on the demographic and genetic structure of populations.
This thesis was conducted in cooperation with the biological station Tour du Valat (Camargue, France).

March - December 1995
Completion of my masters thesis with the subject genetic structure of the grasshopper species Platycleis albopunctata (GOEZE, 1776) under consideration of various environmental factors.

April 1993 to February 1995
Main study of biology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz (Germany).
Subjects: zoology, botany, microbiology and public relations.
At the 10th of February 1995 masters exam

May 1991 to April 1993
Basic study of biology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz (Germany).
Subjects: mathematics, botany, zoology and chemistry
Bachelor exam on the 19th of April 1993

Invited talks

  1. 31.10.2015: Der weltweite Amphibienrückgang und die Rolle von Krankheiten, Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU), Kassel, Germany

  2. 29.10.2015: Monitoring activities at the UFZ, GEO Deutschland, Leipzig, Germany

  3. 03.11.2014: Can we inform EBVs with currently available data? Ecoscope, Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité (FRB), Paris, France

  4. 13.11.2014: Current data needs in biodiversity monitoring, EU-Project BioVel, Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité (FRB), Paris, France

  5. 02.10.2014: The European Biodiversity Observation Network, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany

  6. 05.03.2014: Micropredators dictate infection dynamics of Batrachochytrium dendrobatitis, Leibnitz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany

  7. 20.11.2013: The EU BON project and open data, Taiwan-Node of GBIF, Taipeh, Taiwan

  8. 03.10.2013: Impact of the environment on Bd prevalence, National Taiwan University, Taipeh, Taiwan

  9. 29.09.2013: The herpetofauna of Taiwan and newly emerging pathogens, Chinese Culture University, Shilin, Taipeh, Taiwan

  10. 04.06.2013: EU BON - The European Biodiversity Observation Network, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Copenhagen, Denmark

  11. 11.12.2012: European research on an emerging fungal pathogen, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA

  12. 28.05.2012: Advances in amphibian disease research in the Pyrenees, La Bastide de Serou, France

  13. 25.05.2012: Sublethal effects of Bd on newts and midwife toads, Natural History Museum, Madrid, Spain

  14. 14.02.2012: Biodiversity Monitoring - a European overview, Taichung University, Taichung, Taiwan

  15. 28.10.2011: Bd and the French herpetofauna, Festival international du film ornithologique de Ménigoute, Menigoute, France

  16. 02.02.2011: Advances of the project RACE, Biodiversa, Brussels, Belgium.

  17. 10.01.2011: New results on an emerging fungal pathogen in the Pyrenees, Parc National de Pyrenees, Tarbes, France

  18. 22.11.2010: The biodiversity monitoring landscape in Europe, Zoological Society London, London, UK

  19. 06.08.2010: The amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, Association Naturalist Ariege, Maz-d'Azil, France

  20. 19.11.2009: Chytridiomycosis in Asia, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

  21. 20.09.2009: Chytridiomycosis - a major threat for amphibians worldwide, Centre de Recherche en Agronomie et Développement (CIRAD), Kourou, French Guiana

  22. 23.10.2008: Reproductive success of Rana temporaria under extrem climate conditions, Imperial College London, London, UK

  23. 01.10.2008: Genotype x Environment Interactions, Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

  24. 08.11.2006: Institute of Ecology, University of Bremen, Germany

  25. 27.06.2006: Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Èvolution, CNRS / Université Paris-Sud 11, France

  26. 24.05.2006: Community Ecology, University of Bern, Switzerland

  27. 21.06.2006: Institute of Ecology, University of Darmstadt, Germany

  28. 14.03.2006: Département de biologie évolutive, Université de Rennes 1, France

  29. 08.05.2002: University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
    Ecology and Environmental Management & Hydrobiology, Finland

  30. 21.05.2001: Botanico drustvo Slovenije, Ljubljana, Slovenia

  31. 03.01.2001: Dept. of Ecology, Prof. H.U- Reyer, University of Zurich, Switzerland

  32. 17.04.2000: Chair of biogeography, Prof. P. Müller, University of Trier, Germany

  33. 08.05.2000: Inst. für Natur, Landschafts- und Umweltschutz, Abt. Biologie, Prof. B. Baur, University of Basel, Switzerland

  34. 01.02.2000: Large Animal Research Group, Prof. T. Clutton-Brock, Cambridge, UK

 

Scientific coordination

The coordination and scientific direction of the FP6-project EuMon with 16 partners from 11 countries was perceived as very successful by the European Commission. The experience was extremely valuable for my career, as I had to deal with a wide range of mentalities (East to West, North to South), needing to adapt my coordination and communication strategy depending on the different partner institutions. My work included at the very first to manage and organize the work of the partners and their collaboration. Further, it comprised also the redaction and writing of reports, press releases and deliverables, writing the annual activity and financial reports and to represent EuMon at the EU commission in Brussels. The latter included i.e. presentations at the international habitat seminars and other EU working group meetings (i.e. Article 17 working group meeting). I therefore improved my organizational and administrative skills to run international projects, useful also for running my own research group in Moulis. The research group I have established in Moulis since 2007 is the second one I run. During my time in Marburg as assistant professor (wissenschaftlicher Assistent) I co-directed a group of 3 PostDocs and junior researchers, 8 PhD students, and several master students for the duration of 2 years. I was representing the department of nature conservation in meetings on the teaching agenda, budgetary meetings with the biological institute, and at university meetings. During my time in Helsinki as a PostDoc, I was involved in the co-supervision of several PhD and master students, contributed to teaching and the organization and management of the research group. My own group in Moulis currently comprises two PostDocs, three PhD students, and between 4-6 bachelor and master students from various countries. At present, I put my coordination skills in duty of the project RACE (coordinated together with Matthew Fisher from Imperial College) and as sub-workpackage leader in the project SCALES.

 

Review work

Referee for: Bulletin of the Zoological Museum, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Biota, Evolutionary Ecology, Oikos, Molecular Ecology, Oecologia, Behavioural Ecology, Ecology Letters, Biodiversity and Conservation, Conservation Biology, Alytes, American Naturalist, Journal of Heredity, The Herpetological Journal, Biodiversity and Conservation, Biological Conservation, Zoological Science, Ecological Indicators, Amphibia Reptilia, Plos ONE, Ecography, Journal of Applied Ecology, Basic and Applied Ecology, Herpetologica, Belgium Journal of Zoology, Journal of Animal Ecology.


Evaluation of projects: FNR - Luxembourg, Polish Science Foundation, Israel Science Foundation, Czech Academy of Science, Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

 

 

 

Editorial work

Member of the Editorial Board of

Transfer and application of my research findings

My work on the development of a simple, but robust and freely scalable method to determine national responsibilities has been implemented by the Norwegian government and is currently discussed within the European Commission to be implemented in the periodical reporting of the article 17 (Habitats Directive, Natura 2000). With a computer application, that method will have a very high chance to become a standard method to determine national and/or regional responsibilities for species and habitat conservation in Europe and other continents. The collaboration with Yu-Pin Lin in Taiwan has already led to a beta-version of such an application.
Another important aspect of conservation is also the dissemination of results and research advances in non-academic journals. Articles of mine have been published by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (German Federal center for political education), in Spektrum der Wissenschaft and have been communicated widely through national and international newspapers (e.g. FAZ, SÜDDEUTSCHE, Spiegel, La Libération, La Depeche, Die Zeit, L'Independant, The Independent (UK), La Republique, Die Welt, Die Berliner Morgenpost, Hamburger Abendblatt etc.), via internet (e.g. France 3, Ariege News, Nature, Tela Botanica) and have been interviewed on radio (e.g. Hessen Rundschau, Radio France International) and TV (ZDF, France 3).

I am also regularly solicited to give talks in graduate seminars, international symposia, and meetings on my subjects of national responsibilities and conservation priorities, volunteer-based biodiversity monitoring, and amphibian conservation.


Additional Expertise

Organisiation of the symposium The Evolution of Asexual Reproduction at the ESEB meeting in Krakow, Poland, 2005

Member of the organizing committee of the Extinction Thresholds-meeting held in Helsinki, Finland, 2002

Member of the expert comittee of the Henry Ford Conservation Awards Germany, section nature conservation, since 2001

Member of the committee on Alpine ecology (organisational committee for the 1st international scientific meeting on the biology and ecology of alpine amphibians and reptiles in Slovenia in Sep. 2000), 1999 - 2000

Installation and maintenance of a WWW-server at perdix.biologie.uni-mainz.de, 1996 - 2000

Organisation of the 3rd international symposium on the Genetics, Systematics, and Ecology of Western Palearctic water frogs,1999

Revival of a information pool for waterfrog scientists together with P. Beerli at Prof. Felsensteins lab using internet facilities at evolution.genetics.washington.edu , 1997

Freelancer at the publishing house of Spektrum der Wissenschaft, 1997 - 2006