ZMT is now a member of the Corporation Center of Excellence in Marine Sciences (CEMarin) in Colombia and can now intensify and benefit from CEMarin’s affiliations and connections with scientists from its member universities in Colombia and Germany. ZMT is the seventh member in the network.
Based on a long history of joint work between Colombia and ZMT, with the aim of advancing marine research in both regions, the newly strengthened collaboration aims to advance the understanding and conservation of tropical marine ecosystems. It is expected to foster research, education, international cooperation and innovation in the field of marine science, leaving a lasting impact on the scientific community and the protection of our oceans.
ZMT is the only scientific institute in Germany solely dedicated to the study of tropical and subtropical coastal ecosystems. CEMarin can offer access to key tropical ecosystems in both the Pacific and the Caribbean. The collaboration not only promotes scientific excellence, but also directly benefits the conservation of marine biodiversity and the well-being of the communities that depend on these ecosystems.
ZMT researcher Prof. Dr. Oscar Puebla, who was instrumental in fostering the cooperation, says: “It is absolutely essential for us to establish collaborative networks in the tropics and we see CEMarin as our ally to work in Latin America, we are very interested in maintaining and developing links between Colombia and Germany for many strategic perspectives".
Meanwhile, with this German-Colombian academic alliance CEMarin can give its students the opportunity to enrol in educational exchange programmes in marine research. Also, by having a European partner the centre can secure a wider range of resources and tap into more areas of funding.
Last June Professor Andrés Osorio, Executive Director of CEMarin visited ZMT when the topic of closer cooperation was also discussed during a meeting with ZMT’s scientific director Professor Raimund Bleischwitz. At the time he said: “Colombia has extensive coasts along the Caribbean and the Pacific, a rich biodiversity, coral reefs and mangrove forests. ZMT is already engaged in a research project with field work in Colombia, so it seems like a logical step to build on the already existing ties and to closely look at how CEMarin, which is incredibly well connected and already working with ZMT, could become a strategic partner of our institute in the future.”
This endeavour has now been realised and come to fruition.
See what Oscar Puebla says about the new partnership: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtCRz-aUkSM
About CEMarin
CEMarin is an international non-profit academic consortium promoted and financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) of the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Established in 2009, it became a DAAD Center of Excellence for research and teaching in 2015, focused on high-level interdisciplinary research and academic training through transnational cooperation with six Colombian and German universities, among other national and international partners.
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