Prof. Karsten Wesche receives an honorary doctorate from the Mongolian National University

© Oyundari Chuluunkhulag

Prof. Dr. Karsten Wesche, Director of the Senckenberg Museums in Görlitz and Dresden and Chair of Biodiversity of Higher Plants at the International University Institute Zittau of TU Dresden, was honored for his outstanding commitment to researching and protecting the biodiversity of Mongolia. The National University of Mongolia (NUM) awarded the German biologist and botanist an honorary doctorate. The Senckenberg Institute in Lusatia and the university have enjoyed decades of successful cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Karsten Wesche already dealt with the vegetation of Mongolia in his 2007 habilitation thesis entitled "Plant survival in southern Mongolian desert steppes - Ecology of communities, interactions and populations". At the time, the biologist, who was born in Lüchow/Lower Saxony, was investigating the adaptation mechanisms of plants in the dry steppe regions of southern Mongolia.

Wesche is still intensively involved in research into Mongolia's biodiversity today, particularly in the steppe regions. A central project is the BMBF-funded "Mongolia-MoreStep - Mobility at risk: Sustaining the Mongolian Steppe Ecosystem", which he is carrying out in collaboration with other Senckenberg and Mongolian researchers. The aim is to investigate the effects of pasture management, climate factors and land use changes on the steppe ecosystem and to combine social and ecological aspects in order to develop sustainable approaches for the steppe. Wesche's work analyzes, among other things, regional differences in vegetation, the consequences of human use and the interactions between environmental factors, the mobility of nomadic communities and ecological diversity. The work thus makes a significant contribution to understanding the complex relationships between humans and nature in Mongolia.

© Oyundari Chuluunkhulag

Read more in the Senckenberg Society's press release.