Team

Professor/ Head of Unit: Prof. Dr. Vicky Temperton

Research Associates: Dr. Emanuela W. A. Weidlich, Dr. William Apollinaire

Lecturers: Dr. Heike Zimmermann

PhD Students: MSc Gabriel Inague, MSc Venere Nyiramvuyekure, MSc Alyssa Solvie

Further PhD Students (co-supervision): MSc Lunja Ernst, MSc Julia Luedemann, MSc Jelena Daniels, MSc Simon Hein

Technical Employees: Dr. Thomas Niemeyer

Office Management: Tanja M. Müller

I am a community plant ecologist with a passion for plants and the things they do to how ecosystems function and the services they provide. My research spans both basic and applied spheres, exploring both the role of functional plant diversity during assembly of plant communities as well as the role of land management and ecological restoration approaches for biodiversity outcomes. I aim to acquire a better understanding of how to approach extensively managed biodiverse systems such that they can be multifunctional. Other aspects of my work include doing research on making intensively managed systems more sustainable, via increased functional plant diversity. I mainly work in grasslands, but also in agroforestry, heathlands and cropping systems.

https://www.leuphana.de/en/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/personen/vicky-temperton.html

back to top

I am a biologist, with a master’s degree in Forest Engineering and a PhD in Natural Sciences. I have 15 years of experience in applied plant ecology and restoration ecology. My transdisciplinary research spans ecological restoration, conservation, plant community assembly, and invasive species management in tropical forests and temperate grasslands. I am actively involved in the international ecological restoration community, serving as at-large director on the Society for Ecological Restoration Board of Directors.  I teach ecology, conservation and sustainability courses at Leuphana. I also supervise bachelor, master and PhD students from Leuphana and students doing their projects in tropical forests through collaborators. 

 https://www.leuphana.de/en/institutes/institute-of-ecology/team/emanuela-weidlich.html

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=046pwMgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

back to top

I am an environmental scientist passionate about ecosystem restoration and strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience to climate change, working primarily within Living Lab frameworks. My research is interdisciplinary, integrating land-use optimization, biodiversity conservation, and the pursuit of sustainable social, economic, and ecological outcomes. I focus on navigating multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary dynamics to co-produce sustainable solutions, particularly for low-income and often underrepresented rural farming communities. I am also deeply interested in traditional knowledge, especially the recovery and conservation of culturally important medicinal plants that can improve health in rural communities while revitalizing local ecosystems. My work targets agricultural landscapes, both rural and urban, across tropical Africa, with a particular focus on Rwanda. 

back to top

I am a plant ecologist with a focus on invasion biology and a general interest in people’s perception of nature and landscape management. To this end, I had the opportunity to conduct my research in South America, Southern and Central Europe and Central Asia. I am a member of the School of Sustainability at Leuphana since 2013 where I have held a part-time teaching position (LfbA) since 2021. My teaching portfolio draws on my background as a researcher at the Institute of Geobotany (MLU, Halle-Wittenberg), including statistics and GIS, as well as mixed methods developed during my work as a sustainability scientist at Leuphana. Most of my teaching hours are dedicated to the minor Earth System Science (formerly Spatial Sciences).

https://www.leuphana.de/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/personen/heike-zimmermann.html

www.leuphana.de/college/bachelor/minor-raumwissenschaften.html

back to top

I am a PhD student in Ecology, botanist and biologist, with a deep interest in how plant communities respond to ongoing environmental changes. I have past research experience in ecosystem functioning under climate change and restoration in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), and my current research is to elucidate the dynamics of plant functional groups under variable environmental conditions in Northern Germany dry-acidic grasslands.

www.leuphana.de/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/personen/gabriel-mitsuo-inague.html

back to top

I am a PhD student at the Institute of Ecology and Socio-Ecological Systems at Leuphana University Lüneburg, with a master’s degree in Natural Resources Management. My research explores ecosystem restoration in the Afrotropics, particularly how restoration supports biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. I am passionate about conservation and have a background in forestry and agroforestry

www.leuphana.de/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/personen/verene-nyiramvuyekure.html

back to top

back to top

In my position as a technician, I support the institute's staff in the practical implementation of teaching and research projects. I also ensure that equipment and measuring instruments are ready for use in their experiments in the laboratory, greenhouse, climate chambers, and outdoor areas. I am the contact person for students for questions relating to their bachelor’s, and master's projects. As the biotope garden coordinator, I work with student assistants to organize the maintenance of the biotope garden, ensuring the preservation of its diversity and feel-good quality. The garden is very popular as a place of relaxation and learning. 

https://www.leuphana.de/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/personen/thomas-niemeyer.html

Biotopgarten:  https://www.leuphana.de/institute/institut-fuer-oekologie/biotopgarten.html

back to top

back to top