About me.

Hi there, my name is Carl-Eric Wegner and I'm a research line leader in the lab of Kirsten Küsel and lecturer at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. With my background in applied biology, molecular/environmental microbiology, and bioinformatics, I'm driven by my interest in microbial physiology - how do the smallest, and likely most relevant, creatures contribute to life on Earth as we know it?

The focus of my research is on top-down / bottom-up microbial carbon cycling. I foremost study lanthanide-dependent methylotrophy in the family Beijerinckiaceae and complex carbon turnover in diverse ecosystems - peat bogs, rice paddies, groundwater. To do so I'm using classic microbiological techniques and omics techniques including especially (meta/pan)genomics and (meta)transcriptomics.

I'm affiliated with the collaborative research centers AquaDiva and ChemBioSys and the excellence cluster Microverse .

Looking for new challenges is part of my understanding of research and science. Feel free to reach out to carl-eric.wegner@uni-jena.de if you want to get in touch!

Selected recent publications.

Wegner et al., 2020
Cooper, Wegner et al., 2020
Wegner et al., 2020
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Wegner et al. (2021)
ISME J Cooper, Wegner et al. (2020)
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Wegner et al. (2020)
Extracellular and intracellular lanthanide accumulation in the methylotroph Beijerinckiaceae bacterium RH AL1
Iron is not everything: unexpected complex metabolic responses between iron-cycling microorganisms
Lanthanide-dependent methylotrophs of the family Beijerinckiaceae: physiological and genomic insights

CV.

Postgraduate professional career

  • Since 2016 Postdoctoral researcher, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Aquatic Geomicrobiology
  • 2014-2016 Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Department of Biogeochemistry

Advanced academic qualifications

  • 2011-2014 Ph.D. Microbiology (magna cum laude)
    Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
    Phillips University Marburg, Germany
    Supervisor: PD Dr. Werner Liesack, Department of Biogeochemistry

University training and degree

  • 2009-2011 M.Sc. Microbiology
    University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
    Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
    Supervisors: PD Dr. Thorsten Brinkhoff (University of Oldenburg), Prof. Dr. Frank Oliver Glöckner (Max Planck Institute Bremen)
  • 2006-2009 B.Sc. Applied Biology – B.Sc. (honours) Molecular Microbiology
    University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Bonn, Germany
    University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
    Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Annette Menke (UoA Bonn-Rhein-Sieg), Dr. Anne Donaldson (University of Aberdeen)

Other (Awards, Grants, Memberships)

  • Since 2016 Member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME)
  • Since 2012 Member of the Federation of European Microbiology Societies (FEMS)
  • Since 2012 Member of the German Society for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM)
  • Since 2012 Member of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
  • 2015 FEMS travel grant awardee
  • 2013-2014 Spokesperson of the PhD students of Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
  • 2012, 2013 VAAM travel grant awardee
  • 2011-2014 Scholarship of the International Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology
  • 2011 Award of the University of Oldenburg for Excellent Student Accomplishments
  • 2008 Research scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for undergraduate studies abroad at the University of Aberdeen, UK (2008-2009)
  • 2006 Award of the Federal State of Northrhine Westphalia for Exceptional Public Service

FULL CV