Press release: Biodiversity research prize awarded to young Göttingen researchers

Nr. 204/2011 - 26.09.2011

The Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland honours Dr. Juliano Sarmento Cabral and Dr. Yann Clough

(pug) The Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland has distinguished Dr. Juliano Sarmento Cabral and Dr. Yann Clough, two young scientists at the University of Göttingen, for their excellent achievements in biodiversity research. Dr. Sarmento Cabral is a member of the Free Floater Research Group on Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography at Göttingen’s Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology. Dr. Clough belongs to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences’ Department of Agroecology. The prizes were awarded at the Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting in Oldenburg.

Dr. Sarmento Cabral won first place as the inaugural winner of the MCED Prize. The editors of the textbook “Modelling Complex Ecological Dynamics“ together with the Axel Springer Publishing House award this prize to honour studies demonstrating advancements in ecological modelling. The winner receives € 500. Dr. Sarmento Cabral was honoured for the doctoral dissertation he completed last year at the University of Potsdam. In April 2010, he came to Göttingen University to work on the ecological modelling of range dynamics exhibited by plant species across different spatial and temporal scales and consequent biogeographical patterns. The Free Floater Research Group – Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography was set up with funding from the Excellence Initiative.

For his research on plant production and biodiversity in cacao cultivation, Dr. Clough received the Horst Wiehe Prize endowed with € 1,500. Every two years, the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland awards the Horst-Wiehe Prize for outstanding scientific work on topics relating to the field of ecology. Dr. Clough’s postdoctoral research deals with small-scale cacao farms in Indonesia. He was able to show how appropriate farming management can produce greater species biodiversity on high-yield plantations. His research focuses on biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroforests located in tropical and semi-humid ecological zones.

Contact addresses:
Dr. Yann Clough
Georg-August University Göttingen
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Crop Science
Department of Agroecology
Grisebachstrasse 6, 37077 Göttingen
Phone +49 (551) 39-22358
E-Mail: yclough@gwdg.de
Internet: http://www.agroecology.uni-goettingen.de

Dr. Juliano Sarmento Cabral
Georg-August University Göttingen
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Free Floater Research Group - Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography
Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen
Phone (0551) 39-10728
E-Mail: jsarmen@uni-goettingen.de
Internet: www.uni-goettingen.de/de/128741.html