New ÖBG dual direction
The new leadership of the Ecological-Botanical Garden (ÖBG) at the University of Bayreuth appears as a couple, because Dr. Lena Muffler-Weigel and Dr. Robert Weigel are just that: a couple.
"We have been working together for a long time and it just works really well for us," says Muffler-Weigel. That's why the couple also applied for the management position together. "We did it very consciously as a team," says Weigel. Before heading the ÖBG, the two had worked at the University of Göttingen. There, too, they successfully shared a position.
"The position here in Bayreuth is great and the whole package fits very well," says Muffler-Weigel, who had already written her Bachelor's thesis at the ÖBG. This is because both Dr Lena Muffler-Weigel and Dr Robert Weigel studied at the University of Bayreuth. She studied geography in her Bachelor's degree and geoecology in his Master's degree, he studied geoecology in both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees.
After that, the couple had gone to Greifswald to do their doctorates and had now been working in Göttingen for the past few years.
"We are building on something very special here," says Muffler-Weigel. Nevertheless, there are of course things they will want to change. Or have to. "Adapting the garden to climate change is a big challenge for the next few years," she is sure. "You can already see that it's getting drier and drier." And her husband adds: "In general, the world is changing, you'll see that at ÖBG too." The job of ÖBG management also involves a lot of administration, but not only that. "We were also brought in as knowledge creators," he says. They have various research foci and collaborations that are to be continued or expanded here. Above all, however, the ÖBG is to remain a place for everyone, for example through the guided tours and environmental education programmes.
In future, garden design will be the responsibility of Dr Robert Weigel. Dr Lena Muffler-Weigel will be the main contact person for the staff and their leadership. "We will be here together at core times so that things can also be coordinated, but certainly we are not both always there at the same time," she explains.
There are many favourite places in the ÖBG. "We also have to conquer the ÖBG anew," says Dr Lena Muffler-Weigel. During their studies they spent a lot of time in the experimental areas, now she can imagine spending her lunch break by the pond or on a tour of the garden. "There are certainly still corners that I will rediscover again."
Jennifer OpelDeputy Press Officer
University of Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0)921 - 55 5893 57
Mail: jennifer.opel@uni-bayreuth.de