Dr. Anne Köhler, Academic Assistant at the Institute for Geography, Leipzig University, received the research travel grant from the Hanna Bremer Foundation within the Prof. Dr. Frithjof Voss Foundation for Geography, Berlin.
The grant was awarded for her project “sedaDNA-based Analyses of Biodiversity and Human Impact – A Comparative Study of Two Wetland Sites in Brandenburg” and supports a six-week research stay at the Arctic University of Norway (Tromsø).
The ceremonial award presentation took place on Friday, October 24, 2025, in the Senate Hall of Humboldt University in Berlin. As part of the 25th anniversary of the Prof. Dr. Frithjof Voss Foundation, current prizes and scholarships were conferred in a festive ceremony honouring the dedication of geographers in research and teaching.
The research travel grant enables Dr. Anne Köhler to deepen her expertise in the analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA). During her stay in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Antony Brown at the Arctic University of Norway, she will process her own sediment samples from two lakes in Brandenburg: Lake Gülpe and Lake Kremmen. These two sites represent distinct ecological and hydrological systems: while Lake Gülpe is located in a dynamic floodplain of the Lower Havel River, Lake Kremmen lies within a peatland.
The aim of the planned research stay is to identify traces of past plant and animal communities preserved in the sediments, thereby reconstructing changes in biodiversity and environmental conditions over the past centuries. This work also seeks to improve understanding of anthropogenic impacts such as drainage and land-use change. “The research travel grant from the Hanna Bremer Foundation allows me to analyse my own samples in direct collaboration with an internationally leading sedaDNA team,” explains Anne Köhler. “I aim to explore how human interventions in wetlands are reflected in the biological memory preserved in sediments.”
The stay not only supports methodological training but also the development of international collaborations and future research projects on the environmental history of northeastern Germany.
Founded in 2013 and administered since 2021 by the Prof. Dr. Frithjof Voss Foundation for Geography, the Hanna Bremer Foundation awards research travel grants to support early-career female geographers in the postdoctoral phase. It was established by the geomorphologist Prof. Dr. Hanna Bremer (1930–2012), who sought to promote the scientific careers of young female researchers.
