the museum für naturkunde berlin - leibniz institute for ... · the european biodiversity...

Dr. Christoph L. Häuser

Museum für Naturkunde, Deputy Director General

The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute

for Evolution and Biodiversity Science - GEO 2020: opportunities and challenges for German Science -

10th GEO European Projects Workshop Berlin, 31st May 2016

(Steffen et al. 2015)

We are leaving the safe

operation space for humanity


The big issues:

• Biodiversity loss • Climate change • Water & Food scarcity • Natural disasters • Sustainable Energy • Poverty

Our Knowledge Society is based on science and technology, i.e., the open availability of sound & reliable scientific data, analysis and interpretation

Global challenges: the case for Earth Observation


The GEO (EU) projects challenge: “right” products - from data - to well / better informed decisions

• Data integration: RS and in situ data

• Interoperability: within and between SBAs, open access and open science within Europe and globally

• Information delivery: from integrated data layers to customized information services

GEO challenges and opportunities – a personal view


The German Research Funding / System

70 %

Industry, private sector

80 billion € total spending on research & development

16 % Universities

14 %

Leibniz

Max-Planck

Fraunhofer

Helmholtz


Academic research , “pure” science

Program-driven research, large-scale

research centres & infrastructures

Applied research, industry

Strategic and interdisciplinary

research - from basic to applied

Non-university research in Germany

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The Leibniz Association - at a glance

• 89 independant research institutions

• 18,000 employees; 8,900 researchers

• total budget of 1.5 billion EUR

• 17 research infrastructure institutes

• 8 research museums

• senate evaluation procedure (every 7 years): fluctuations

and changes in membership

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The Leibniz Association - how we are organised

• Institutes are financially and legally independent

• Common goals, decentralised structure

• Research topics are developed bottom-up

• Joint funding by the Federal Government (50%) and the Länder [GWK] (50%)

• Head office in Berlin, EU liaison office in Brussels

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Locations and research areas

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Section A (16)

Humanities and Educational

Research

Section B (17)

Economics, Social and Spatial

Sciences

Section C (24)

Life Sciences

Section D (20)

Mathematics, Natural Sciences and

Engineering

Section E (9)

Environmental Research


Biodiversity Leibniz Education

Research Alliance(LERN)

Healthy Ageing

Pharmaceutical Agents and

Biotechnology

Historical Authenticity

Science 2.0

Sustainable Food Production and

Healthy Nutrition

Crises in a Globalised world

Nanosafety

The Leibniz Research Alliances

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Leibniz research museums

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• Mining Museum, Bochum

• Deutsches Museum, Munich

• Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum,

Bremerhaven

• Germanisches Nationalmuseum,

Nuremberg

• Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

• Research Museum for Archeology, Mainz

• Senckenberg Naturmuseen,

Frankfurt a. M., Görlitz und Dresden

• Zoological Research Museum

Alexander Koenig, Bonn


Museum für Naturkunde (MfN) - Leibniz Institute

for Evolution and Biodiversity Science

• Research focus: Biodiversity & Evolution, Earth + Planetary History

• 264 staff (>400 people): • 74 scientists, 34 PhD students, 24

undergraduate student workers

• RI: 30 mio objects/samples at MfN: global top 10 NH collections

• Science communication & outreach: >500,000 visitors/year among top ten among Berlin museums (6/150)

• Lead/Partner in many EU

(biodiversity) projects: EU BON,

ECOPOTENTIAL, Fauna

Europaea EDIT, BHL-Europe,


16th Century: Oldest items from MfN collections

1810 : Scientific Collections established as integral part of the Royal „Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität“, initiated by Wilhelm and Alexander v. Humboldt

1889 : New museum building erected, inaugurated by Willhelm II.

from 1945 : Museum located in East Berlin, GDR; integral part of Humboldt University of Berlin

up to 2006 : Museum consists of three independent University Institutes (zoology, palaeontology, mineralogy)

April 2006 : Restructuring: former „institutes“ abolished, new departments of research, collections, and public education

from 2009 : Member of the Leibniz-Association

January 2010 : MfN fully separated from Humboldt University with legal personality, as a foundation under public law

MfN - some history


1810: Foundation of the Museum - as integral part of the new Berlin University

1810-14: all natural history collections are fused and become an integral part of the Berlin University. They were transferred to the University main building „Unter den Linden“

1810: foundation of the Royal Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin, nowadays the Humboldt-University at Berlin


1810 - 1900: Rapid growth of collections by expeditions, purchase and donations:

Zoology, e.g.

• South America (A.v.Humboldt, Adalbert v. Chamisso etc)

• Africa (Bergius, Krebs, Ehrenberg, Lepsius, Peters etc)

• Philippines (Fedor Jagor), Siberia (coll. P.S. Pallas)

• Voyage of the"Tethis"-toEast Asia

• Voyage of the "Pola"-to the Red Sea

• Word Expedition of the "Gazelle“ -

Palaeontology / Mineralogy e.g..:

• Coll.. C.S. Weiß, Coll. Klaproth

• Meteorite-Collection Chladni

• Ural-/Altai voyage by Alexander von Humboldt

- Rose - Ehrenberg

• Coll. Tammnau, Schlotheim, Leopold v. Buch,

• China-Expedition: Richthofen, Egypt - Expedition Schweinfurth

• 1880 purchase of Archaeopteryx: enabled through a credit by

Werner von Siemens (1816-1892) to the Prussian State (20.000 Goldmark)


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Restoration of the East Wing 2006-2009


Museum für Naturkunde 2020 – new building / facility for wet collections


Four Science Programs:

1. Evolution and Geoprocesses

2. Collection Development and

Biodiversity Discovery

3. Digital World and Information

Science

4. Public Engagement with Science

MfN Research Divisions:


Zoology, Palaeontology, Mineralogy / Geology:

> 30 million items / specimens, some examples:

Molluscs: ca. 9 mio. (60.000 out of 130.000 known species)

Beetles: ca. 9 mio. (> 130.000 out of 360.000 known species; 100.000 types, ca 30.000 holotypes)

Butterflies & Moths: ca. 3-4 mio., including types of more than 10.000 species

Birds: 210.000 specimens (95% of all known bird species [ca 9,600] represented)

Fishes: 150.000 specimens (1.700 holotypes, ca. 7% of all known species)

Animal voice recording archive 120.000 recordings

ca. >> 250.000 types, several 10.000s holotypes

MfN collections


MfN facilities

• Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (TEM & SEM), optical microscopy labs

• Molecular lab (DNA-Sequencing, incl. non-invasive methods)

• Bioacoustic lab (+ digital animal sound archive)

• Taxidermy workshop, histology labs, „wet“ chemical lab

• Palaeontological and geological preparation

• X-ray diffractometer and fluorescence spectrometer

• Raman spectrometer, Cathodoluminescence

• Microprobe (conventional EMPA and field-emission cathode)

• Stable Isotope lab (C/O/N/S/H)

• Workstations for geo-scientific modelling + bio-informatics / 3D-reconstruction analyses


Mission: Discovering and describing life and earth – with people, through dialogue.

Vision: As an excellent research museum and innovative communication platform, we want to engage with and influence the scientific and societal discourse about the future of our planet – worldwide.

The MfN in the 21st Century


“Living with Biodiversity” – the “Berlin Wall 4.0” at MfN

Thank you very much for your attention!


The European Biodiversity Observation Network – EU BON

Remote sensing

In situ

Key features of EU BON: Delivery of integrated, near-real-time relevant data,

both from on-ground observation and remote sensing, to various stakeholders and end users, ranging from local to global levels.

EU BON facts:

• EU FP7 collaborative project

• 31 partners (18 countries)

• Coordination: Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

• Project duration: 54 months; 2012-2017

• EC contribution: 9 million Euro

• Call ENV.2012.6.2-2: Assessing global biological resources: the European contribution to the Global Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON)

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