ZAC7 Program
The Leibniz-ZMT Annual Conference
January 26-27, 2026
Monday, 26 January 2026
11:00
Icebreaker: Research Data Service
Tropical LEGO® Metadata for Reproducibility Game
Chaired by Birte Hemmelskamp-Pfeiffer and Team
12:00
Lunch Break (60 mins)
13:00
Opening
Raimund Bleischwitz (tbc)
13:15
Poster Pitches (~1 min each)
1. Too Hot to Hide: Synergistic Effects of Warming and Predation Risk on the Metabolism of the Rock Goby
Nina Paul et al.
Nina Paul et al.
2. How Does a Hidden Sandy Estuary Fractionate Lithium Isotopes and Influence the Ocean?
Yiqing Wang et al.
Yiqing Wang et al.
3. Co-Designing the ESTiCS Index: Preliminary Stakeholder Perceptions from Mombasa and WIOMSA 2025
Nancy A. Oduor et al.
Nancy A. Oduor et al.
4. A review of the dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fishery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean
Maria Schoenbeck
Maria Schoenbeck
5. Latitudinal distribution and trait diversity of mangrove burrowing crabs under climate change
Moise Leance Sagbohan
Moise Leance Sagbohan
6. Production of nama seaweed (Caulerpa spp.) in an experimental lagoon cultivation setting and land-based system
Aaron Cordes et al.
Aaron Cordes et al.
7. Implementing ABS at ZMT: A Practical Framework for Nagoya Protocol Compliance
Achim Meyer et al.
Achim Meyer et al.
8. Metabolic impacts of chronic exposure to high temperature and hypoxia in the Lusitanian toadfish
Juan Manuel Molina et al.
Juan Manuel Molina et al.
9. Participatory Modelling of Social-Ecological Systems
Michael Kriegl et al.
Michael Kriegl et al.
Session 5 (Part I): Transregional, Experimental, and Laboratory studies
Chaired by Vilane Goncalves Sales, Connie Kwong & Achim Meyer
13:30
Acclimatization of corals to global warming: Uncovering the mechanisms of coral-symbiont dynamics
Francielle Nogueira de Lima Holtz Santos, Subhendu Chakraborty, Agostino Merico
13:45
Hazards, Ecosystems, and Tourism Governance: Policy Responses to Environmental Risk in Tropical Coastal Destinations
Vilane G. Sales, Marie Fujitani
14:00
Do planted mangroves store as much carbon as intact mature stands?
Tim Jennerjahn
14:15
Break (15 mins)
Session 1: Latin America and Caribbean
Chaired by Lol Dahlet, Gustavo Castellanos Galindo and Marie Fujitani
14:30
Regional Keynote (remote)
Ocean Travelers – participatory scientists investigating the hidden impacts of marine litter pollution
Martin Thiel – Smithsonian MarineGEO (USA) / Univeridad Católica del Norte (Chile)
15:00
Wastewater as a Knowledge Interface: Lessons from project TransTourism for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Challenges
Marie Fujitani, Connie Kwong, Sarah Zwicker, Roald Leeuwerik, Alejandro Plazas Gomez, Camilo Arrieta
15:15
Trophic Cascade or Nutrient Limitation? Phytoplankton Community Size-Spectral Shifts in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela
Benjamin Post, Subhendu Chakraborty, Esteban Acevedo-Trejos, Andrew Barton, Agostino Merico
15:30
Hydrological and physicochemical dynamics of a degraded mangrove system in Monterrico, Guatemala: implications for restoration
Maria Schoenbeck, Myrna Galindo
15:45
Proof-of-concept and development of a laboratory protocol for the breeding of the masked goby (Coryphopterus personatus)
Isabel Kohlbrecher
16:00
Poster Session in Foyer
17:00
End of Day 1
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Session 2: East Asia and Pacific
Chaired by Mondane Fouqueray and Estradivari
09:00
Regional Keynote (remote)
Managing the impacts of climate change on coral reefs: a developing but pragmatic story
Peter Mumby – University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia
09:30
ZMT’s Indo-Pacific Research Portfolio Across Programme Areas: Where are we now?
Estradivari, Mondane Fouqueray, Salome Hutfilter, and Clara Bruns
09:45
From Fish Tracks to Reef Flats: Behavioural Energetics and Habitat Mapping Across a Turbidity Gradient in the Solomon Islands
Julian Lilkendey, Jingjing Zhang, Emily Steele, Dominic Bravenboer, Samantha van Iersel, Samantha Patterson Gillis, Grace Martin, Graham Hinchliffe, Daniel Breen, Armagan Sabetian
10:00
Earthworms: A Breakthrough for Indonesian Lobster Aquaculture?
Fawzan Bhakti Soffa, Muhammad Firdaus, Sunarti Sinaga, Muhammad Fariz Zahir Ali
10:15
Break (15 mins)
Session 3: Sub-Saharan Africa
Chaired by Nancy Oduor & Achim Schlüter
10:30
Regional Keynote (remote)
Speaker TBA
11:00
DNA profiling reveals low genetic diversity in the endangered blackchin guitarfish of Cabo Verde
Martin Helmkampf, Khévine Djogli, Achim Meyer, Oscar Puebla
11:15
Integrating local ecological knowledge to assess seagrass responses to sedimentation
Tsiaranto Fanoro, Marie Fujitanie, Martin Zimmer
11:30
Break (15 mins)
11:45
Special Session: Failing Forward
Chaired by Désirée Schwindenhammer and Hauke Kegler
Central questions:
– Which methods/experiments/partnerships did not work out as planned?
– Are there patterns or common pitfalls?
– What can we learn for future endeavors?
– Where, how, and with whom can we have these conversations?
12:30
Lunch Break
Session 4: Middle East, North Africa and South Asia
Chaired by Cátia Ehlert von Ahn, Sara Galal Abbass Issa Ahmed & Murugan Ramasamy
13:30
Regional Keynote (remote)
Anaerobic microbial processes and environmental factors governing greenhouse gas emissions in coastal sediments of Kerala
Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent – University of Kerala, India
14:00
First look at the Last Interglacial central Red Sea coral records as a benchmark for modern warming
Sara Todorović, Paolo Montagna, Éric Douville, Marco Taviani, Hildegard Westphal
14:15
Geochemical behavior of a subterranean estuary on the east coast of India
Cátia Milene Ehlert von Ahn, Soumya Kanta Nayak, Naveen Gupta, Murugan Ramasamy, Nandimandalam Janardhana Raju, Nils Moosdorf
14:30
The Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) in the Indian Ocean
Eugene Oboh, Niko Lahajnar, Birgit Gaye, Avanti Shrikumar, Tim Rixen
14:45
Break (15 mins)
Session 5 (Part II): Transregional, Experimental, and Laboratory studies
Chaired by Vilane Goncalves Sales, Connie Kwong & Achim Meyer
15:00
Mapping Gaps in Mangrove Forests Using Deep Learning and Remote Sensing: Correlation Between Gap Frequency and Canopy Height
Dominic Wrieden, Daniel Schürholz
15:15
Modelling competition for nutrient uptake among diazotrophs of different cell sizes
Sandra Marion Kam Tsemo, Ken H. Andersen, Agostino Merico, Keisuke Inomura, Adam Martiny, Subhendu Chakraborty
15:30
Modelling N2 fixation by oceanic free-living heterotrophic bacteria
Teena Rahangdale, Agostino Merico, Subhendu Chakraborty
15:45
Nearly half the world’s population lives in groundwater risk hotspots
Sara Nazari, Nils Moosdorf
16:00
TropEcS — A Modelling Perspective on Tropical Coastal Systems
Nils Brüggemann, Esteban Acevedo-Trejos, Maxime Collin, Gabriela Garcia, Alexandra Klemme, Stefan Koenigstein, Michael Kriegl, Camilla Novaglio, Murugan Ramasamy
16:15
Break (15 mins)
16:30
Special Session: Regions as transformative hubs
Panel Discussion with Raimund Bleischwitz and NN
17:00
Closing Remarks
Raimund Bleischwitz
Chat in Foyer with open end