Martin Kaltenpoth (born in 1977 in

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

) is a German evolutionary ecologist.

Scientific career

After studying

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, which was supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (

Studienstiftung The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

), 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 (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...

and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In 2009, he joined the

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology is located on Beutenberg Campus in Jena, Germany. It was founded in March 1996 and is one of 80 institutes of the Max Planck Society (Max Planck Gesellschaft). Chemical ecology examines the role of che ...

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 (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

. Since 2020, he has been Director and Scientific Member at the

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 The Animal Behavior Society is an international non-profit scientific society that encourages and promotes the professional study of animal behavior. It has open membership and also provides a certification and directory for animal behaviorists. T ...

, USA, 2001 * Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grant,

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, USA, 2002 * Biocenter Science Award of the

, 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 i ...

(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 statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, 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 1,800 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 (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

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

Website of the Department of Insect Symbiosis at the MPI for Chemical Ecology

References

1977 births Living people University of Würzburg alumni Max Planck Institute directors {{improve categories, date=June 2021