Oct 28, 2025
Dendroecologist Ernst van der Maaten receives the German Forest Science Prize 2025
This year's award winner Prof. Dr. Ernst van der Maaten (on the right) was honored by the Rector of the University of Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein, and the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, Robert Mayr.
For his outstanding research on the climate sensitivity and growth dynamics of trees, dendroecologist Ernst van der Maaten was awarded the German Forest Science Prize 2025 on September 30, 2025, the most valuable forest science award in the German-speaking world, worth 50,000 euros. With his tree ring research, the newly appointed Professor of Dendro Sciences at the TUD Dresden University of Technology is making a significant contribution to understanding the adaptability of forests to the climate. His work combines classical tree ring analysis with modern wood anatomical and ecophysiological methods in order to analyze the growth reactions of trees to changing environmental conditions. In this way, insights can be gained from the past that help to develop well-founded forecasts for the future. How forests can be made resilient under the conditions of climate change is one of the prizewinner's core research areas.
More information here.