Martin Kaltenpoth (born in 1977 in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

) is a German evolutionary ecologist.

Scientific career

After studying

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at the University of Würzburg, which was supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation ( Studienstiftung), Kaltenpoth completed his doctorate in 2006 under the supervision of Erhard Strohm on the topic ''Protective bacteria and attractive pheromones - symbiosis and chemical communication in beewolves''. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the

University of Regensburg The University of Regensburg () is a public research university located in the city of Regensburg, Germany. The university was founded on 18 July 1962 by the Landtag of Bavaria as the fourth full-fledged university in Bavaria. Following groundbr ...

and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. In 2009, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology as head of the Max Planck Research Group Insect Symbiosis. In 2015, he was appointed Chair of Evolutionary Ecology at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. Since 2020, he has been Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Head of the Department of Insect Symbiosis.

Research

Kaltenpoth studies symbioses between insects and microorganisms. Bacteria are important partners for their hosts, as they help open up new habitats and the exploit new food sources. They also play a vital role in their host insects’ defense against enemies. The goal of Kaltenpoth's research is to characterize the diversity of bacterial symbionts in insects and their importance for the ecology of their hosts, tracing their evolutionary origin.

Honors and awards

* Student Research Grant Award, Animal Behavior Society, USA, 2001 * Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grant,

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

, USA, 2002 * Biocenter Science Award of the University of Würzburg, 2006 * Award of the Ingrid Weiss / Horst Wiehe Foundation, German Society for General and Applied Entomology (DGaaE), 2007 * Young Scientist Award,

Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society for animal, cell and plant biologists. It was founded in 1923 at Birkbeck College to "promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches". It aims to demonstrate the im ...

(SEB), United Kingdom, 2007 * Thuringian Science Award of the Thuringian Ministry for Economy, Science and Digital Society, Germany, 2014 * Griswold Lecture, Department of Entomology,

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, USA, 2018 * European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, 2019 * Elected Member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

, 2023 * Honorary Professorship for Evolutionary Ecology at

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

, Faculty of Biosciences, 2023,Martin Kaltenpoth appointed honorary professor at Friedrich Schiller University, October 30, 2023
/ref>

References

External links

Website of the Department of Insect Symbiosis at the MPI for Chemical Ecology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaltenpoth, Martin 1977 births Living people University of Würzburg alumni Max Planck Institute directors