Change of Staff in the Directorate of the Alfred Wegener Institute

“I’m very much looking forward to moving the Alfred Wegener Institute forward as a member of the Directorate,” says Nixdorf. 

A geophysicist by training, Nixdorf (55) first came to the AWI from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, overwintering in 1986. Until 2004 he pursued research on questions concerning the mass balance in polar ice sheets, an area in which he established new measuring techniques. His enthusiasm for the Polar Regions subsequently led him to take on central coordination duties. Switching to the Institute’s Logistics department in 2004, by 2009 he had become head of the department. Thanks in part to his expertise in polar research, he is a respected member of national and international committees alike, including the Antarctic Treaty Council Meeting (ATCM), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and the Forum of Arctic Research Operators (FARO). Further, he gained experience as a member of the Directorate while serving as Interim Administrative Director from 2014 to early 2015.

Dr Nixdorf succeeds Prof Ralf Tiedemann (Head of the Geosciences Department and Marine Geology Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute) as Vice Director. Tiedemann had served in the function from 1 April 2012 to 31 July 2015, during which time he took on many duties on behalf of the Director. The Directorate would like to extend its sincere gratitude to Prof Tiedemann for his valued support and unflagging dedication to the Alfred Wegener Institute.