Tropical coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds are highly productive habitats with an abundance of animal and plant species that are in delicate balance. The unstoppable population growth in coastal areas, climate change and ocean acidification, sea level rise and marine pollution, overfishing and many other factors have dramatic impacts on these ecosystems.
The ZMT regularly offers activities to share information with people of all ages about tropical coastal ecosystems, their vulnerabilities, and the Institute's research, and to demonstrate the need for science engagement.
Lectures and expert talks
In lecture series and with expert talks, the ZMT informs the public about its research activities and results. For example, our scientists present their research in the following formats:
Upcoming lectures can be found under the links on the right.
Exhibitions
The ZMT is one of the sponsors of the Bremen House of Science and cooperates closely with it. It regularly participates in exhibitions on various topics of science in Bremen or organizes its own exhibitions there.
You can also find us on the Research Mile of the Bremen Maritime Week or on the Open Campus of the University of Bremen. The ZMT has also participated with its exhibits in many other events, such as the exhibitions on the MS Wissenschaft, the Open Day of the BMBF, the Republica or the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The ZMT also cooperates with museums, advises them with its experts, or participates with exhibits in special exhibitions, for example in the Bremerhaven Klimahaus, the Bremen Überseemuseum, the Meeresmuseum Stralsund, the Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt, or the Museum Nienburg.
Current exhibitions and events with participation of the ZMT can be found on the right under News.
Exhibits
The ZMT has developed a number of attractive exhibits for exhibitions and presentations in recent years that bring tropical ecosystems and aspects of ZMT research to life, including several virtual reality applications. ZMT scientists also often bring back excellent visual material from their research trips to the tropics. The ZMT sometimes lends exhibits and image or film material to museums or other exhibitors.
Some examples:
- Virtual tropical coral reef in 2- and 3-D
- 360° film "Coral reefs - Life Under the Surface”
- Interactive showcase on integrated aquaculture (IMTA)
- Virtual learning game on the subject of coral reefs
- Interactive stele on the topic of mangroves
- Coral cores as climate archives
- Photo exhibitions
Are you interested in borrowing one of our exhibits? You can find a list of the exhibits with descriptions and images here.
Offers for pupils
On Future Day (Girls / Boys Day), the ZMT offers school students a varied workshop programme and the opportunity to gain insights into various aspects of its research and to try out techniques themselves.
Upon request from schools, visits to the ZMT's marine experimental facility or workshops can also be organized, if appropriate capacities are available.
Depending on capacity, we are also happy to "lend" one of our experts to a school to introduce aspects of his or her field of research during a lesson. The ZMT also participates in the BMBF's Research Exchange (Forschungsbörse), which places researchers in schools.
Media
We have compiled information for representatives of the media on a separate page.
In the media coverage you will find reports about the ZMT and its work in the press, TV and radio.
Contacts 
News Archive 
Events