Order of Merit for Freiburg Forest Scientist Johann Georg Goldammer
Freiburg, 04/10/2024
On 1 October, the Freiburg forest scientist and fire ecologist Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Georg Goldammer was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin. The president recognized Goldammer as ‘one of the most experienced experts on forest fires worldwide’ and emphasized: ‘It was he who introduced the issue of preventing and fighting forest fires to the United Nations.’
- The forest scientist Johann Georg Goldammer earned his doctorate at the University of Freiburg and founded the Fire Ecology Research Group in the 1980s. He has served as its director ever since. Today the research group is a subdivision of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz) but is located at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources of the University of Freiburg as an external research group and collaborates closely with the faculty.
- The Fire Ecology Research Group maintains the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), which operates as a German contribution to the United Nations. The GFMC advises states, international organizations, and the United Nations on the issue of how to reduce forest fire disasters.
- The Office of the President recognized Goldammer as ‘one of the most experienced experts on forest fires worldwide. The forest scientist has studied natural as well as human-caused vegetation fires and their consequences for decades. He began conducting research in the field of fire ecology as early as the 1980s. He studied the effects of forest fires in the taiga on the atmosphere and the role of fire in tropical rain forests. It was he who introduced the issue of preventing and fighting forest fires to the United Nations.’