The Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, FVB-IGB, is the largest freshwater ecology institute in Germany. IGB is part of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., which represents eight research institutes in Berlin that focus on natural sciences, life sciences, and environmental sciences. The institutes pursue common interests as a single legal entity, while maintaining full scientific autonomy. FVB-IGB is an interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge about freshwater ecosystems. Working in close partnership with the scientific community (universities and research institutes), government agencies, and the private sector guarantees the development of innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing freshwater ecosystems and human societies. As of 31 December 2014, 230 people were employed at FVB-IGB, including 90 scientists, 48 PhD students, 88 non-academic staff members and 4 apprentices.

FVB-IGB leads WP7, Forecasting Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Provision, and take the freshwater area lead. In addition, FVB-IGB contributes to WP4, Drivers of Change and Pressures on Aquatic Ecosystems, and WP5, Causalities between Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functions and Services, in important forecasting working steps, as well as to WP6, Information Platform, and WP8, Ecosystem-based Management towards Policy Objectives. Support in GIS, data storage experience.

Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner

Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner is director of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB, Berlin) and professor for Aquatic Ecology at the Freie Universität Berlin and. He received a PhD from the University of Vienna and a Titulary Professorship at ETH. He has special expertise on freshwater biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and river and wetland management. He is Co-Editor of the journal Aquatic Sciences and Subject Editor of the journal Ecosystems. He has published more than 200 scientific papers including 120 ISI papers. In 2009, he edited a comprehensive book on European Rivers (Rivers of Europe, Elsevier). Klement Tockner has successfully managed large inter- and transdisciplinary projects (e.g. EC-funded project BioFresh;). He is member of several scientific committees and advisory boards including the crosscutting group on freshwater biodiversity of GEO-BON, and elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina).

Dr. Sonja Jähnig

Dr. Sonja Jähnig is research group leader at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB, Berlin), Department of Ecosystem Research. She holds a Diploma in Environmental Sciences and a PhD from University of Duisburg-Essen. Her research focuses on global change effects in river ecosystems, large scale patterns of freshwater biodiversity and river health, and traits and functions in river ecosystems. Sonja is and has been actively involved in a number of European and international projects funded e.g. by the DFG and BMBF (current: GLANCE), especially interested at the interface of hydrology and hydrobiology. She is currently leading the work package 7 - Forecasting Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Provision and is additionally involved into the WP 3, 4, 5 and 8.

Dr. Simone Langhans

Dr. Simone Langhans is a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. Sonja Jähnig at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin, Germany. Simone was trained as a freshwater ecologist by ETH Zürich and Eawag in Switzerland and has additional experience in river rehabilitation, decision support theory and conservation planning. In her research she combines these topics to investigate alternative ways of solving complex environmental decision problems with a focus on freshwater management.

PD Dr. Martin Pusch

Prof. Dr. Martin Pusch is a senior researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, who additionally lectures at two universities. He is an aquatic ecologist who is used to conduct interdisciplinary work with neighbouring disciplines. Dr. Pusch’s work focuses on the ecology and management of rivers and lake shores. Thereby he has applied a broad range of approaches in structural and functional ecology, as analysing the distribution patterns and the use of food resources by benthic invertebrates, measuring the effects of hydraulics on benthic invertebrates in rivers and at lake shores, and quantifying benthic-pelagic coupling, the metabolism of organic matter as well as the retention of nutrients in rivers (in the FP5 EU project STREAMES). Related with the management of surface waters, Dr. Pusch has worked on ecologically-based minimum flows, river training and restoration, and on human impacts on the hydromorphology of lake shores. As part of the FP7 EU project WISER, he has established a targeted assessment tool for the hydromorphological integrity of lake shores (AESHNA) for official use under the EU Water Framework Directive. Recently, he has started a large German collaborative project ‘River Ecosystem Services Index’ (RESI) focusing on ecosystem services of rivers and floodplains.

Dr. Gabriela Costea

Dr. Gabriela Costea is a researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin. As a trained museum curator, she has broad expertise in terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, and in communication of natural sciences issues to the public through exhibitions and interactive education events. Since many years, she has been especially involved in scientific and communication activities related with the ecology and conservation of river floodplains and wetlands, and in educational and social activities linked to the management of the lower Danube. She has also served as a representative of the Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park (RO) within the DANUBEPARKS Network of protected areas along the Danube. In the AQUACROSS project, Dr. Costea compiles data for the Danube catchment case study that are relevant for analyses on ecosystem services and their trade-offs, including data on major human pressures, current planning and trends. Thereby, she also communicates AQUACROSS work to many stakeholders and other researchers of the area, aiming to establish synergies among ongoing activities. Besides that, Dr. Costea works in a German collaborative project focusing on ecosystem services of rivers and floodplains entitled ‘River Ecosystem Services Index’ (RESI).

Dr. Virgilio Hermoso

Dr. Virgilio Hermoso is a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Forest Science Centre of Catalonia (Lleida, Spain), where he recently joined after more than 6 years' postdoctoral experience in Australia (University of Queensland and the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University). His research interest focuses on the development and application of systematic planning methods to inform decision-making in conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystem services and biodiversity. He has experience in modelling the distribution of freshwater biodiversity and optimisation algorithms to identify cost-effective solutions that help make better-informed and transparent management decisions. He is also interested in the study of threats to freshwater biodiversity, especially on the interactive effects of habitat degradation and introduced species.

Dr. Sami Domisch

Dr. Sami Domisch is a postdoctoral researcher in the working group of Dr. Sonja Jähnig at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, where he recently joined after a 3-year postdoc at Yale University in the USA. Sami is interested in freshwater biogeography, with an emphasis on assessing the current status of freshwater biodiversity, as well as under potential environmental change scenarios on different spatial scales. He has a strong background in species distribution modeling, and is interested in how these tools can be further developed within the freshwater realm for management and decision making.