Mrs. Jun.-Prof. Dr. Kleindienst new professor at the ISWA

With her entry into service at July 1, 2022, the faculty has won both a microbial ecologist and a microbiologist committed to environmental protection with experience in basic research and a connection to application-oriented research. She is head of the recently created department for environmental microbiology. With Mrs. Kleindienst the first of the re-tailored professorships planned as part of the strategic realignment of the Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management (ISWA) of the faculty was filled. The process for the next (technical environmental chemistry and sensor technology) is in an advanced stage.

Prof. Kleindienst's scientific life until now:

• 2002-2008: Studies of Biology at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, degree: Diplombiologin
• 2008-2012 PhD Student in the Molecular Ecology Group, Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPI), Bremen
• 2012 Ph. D. at the University of Bremen ("Hydrocarbon-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria at marine gas and oil seeps")
• 2012-2015 Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Georgia, Athens/USA, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge/USA and at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville/USA
• 2015-2017 Junior Research Group Leader in the Geomicrobiology Group, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen
• 2017-2022 Junior Professor for Microbial Ecology and leader of the Emmy Noether research group with the same name (thereof temporary parental leaves)
• Seit 1. Juli 2022 Professor for Technical Environmental Biology and Analysis of Ecosystems at faculty 2

Mrs. Kleindienst was distinguished, among others, with a scholarship within the framework of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation's elite program for postdocs, in the Fast Track Program of the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH and with funding in the framework of the Emmy Noether Program of the DFG.  

Actual important research projects of Prof. Kleindienst are:

• Microbial contaminant degradation (e.g. hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, pesticides)
• Environments impacted by natural and anthropogenic contaminants
• Microbial ecology of marine benthic, pelagic and freshwater aquifer communities
• Interrelation of microbial activities and biogeochemical cycles
• Identification of microbial key players

In her research, Prof. Kleindienst intends to put a focus on the optimisation of microbial processes for the use in the protection oft he environment – as for example in the wastewater treatment in sewage plants. 

The whole faculty and especially the ISWA team are happy and wish her a good start!