Prof Dr Andreas Jürgens

The research interest of Andreas Jürgens focuses on the chemical ecology of plant-animal interactions. His main focus, chemical ecology, is part of a larger research framework namely the functional ecology and evolution of pollination systems. Within different projects and collaborations he tackles questions regarding the role of floral scent for the interaction of flowering plant with pollinators. His expertise is the identification of floral scent compounds via gas-chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry (GC-MS / Thermodesorption) and the identification of insect responses to volatile compounds using electroantennography coupled with mass-spectrometry (EAG, GC-MS-EAD). In addition, biotests and field experiments are used in his lab to test insect responses to scent compounds.  

After studying biology at the University of Giessen and finishing his phd at the University of Ulm (Department of Plant Systematics, Prof. Gerhard Gottsberger) he established a chemical ecology group as a postdoc at the University of Bayreuth (Department of Plant Systematics, Prof. Sigrid Liede). In 2004 he worked as a postdoc at Haifa University (Israel) within the EU-ALARM project on pollinator efficiency (Prof. Amots Dafni), and in 2006 he moved to New Zealand (HortResearch, Landcare Research) to work as a postdoc on carnivorous plants. From 2007 to 2014 he was appointed as a Seniour lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to support the NRF-Research Chair Prof. Steve Johnson. Since 2015 he is the head of the department of Plant Chemical Ecology at the Technical University of Darmstadt. However, his research programme continues to be closely linked to South Africa. Since March 2015 he has been appointed as an Honorary Associate Professor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.