The Chair of Zoology (Invertebrates) introduces itself
My name is Willi Xylander. I have been the director of the Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz (SMNG, formerly Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz) since 1995.[1] Since 2015, I have been appointed professor of invertebrate zoology at the IHI and TU-Dresden. In addition to my work as a soil zoologist and university lecturer at IHI, my main tasks are the management of the research museum and the construction of our new research and collection building near the Görlitz railway station. In recent years, the transfer of research to society through innovative formats of museum display [2][3] [4] has been another focus.
This multipolarity of my work is also reflected in the staff structure of my department and my projects: The Department of Soil Zoology at SMNG, which I head, currently employs about 20 scientists, including 7 section heads, 5 postdocs, several PhD students, IT specialists and laboratory staff. The research topics of the department range from the description and assessment of soil biocoenoses [5][6] against the background of different environmental conditions and stressors [7][8] to the molecular and genomic characterisation of different soil animal species and the development of data warehouses to derive environmental parameters and trends[9] . With a colleague from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Halle-Jena-Leipzig I edit an international journal on soil organisms (www.soil-organisms.org[10] ).
Several of my projects in recent years have been dedicated to communicating soil animals, their communities, their behaviour and their threats - for different target groups from policy makers[11] to museum visitors and school children [12][13] [14] [15] . Because, in my view, research must reach society and people, emotionalise [16][17] and awaken the willingness to translate the knowledge gained into sustainable action. Within the framework of three international touring exhibitions (financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt[18] ) and through the development of innovative digital forms of presentation in the museum context, new attractive and immersive formats have been created [19][20] , which make soil biodiversity tangible and accessible to all.
As part of the Biodiversity and Collection Management degree programme, I was able to introduce this aspect in my Museums and Collections module and present it to the students. I will retire at the end of 2022 and my successor is to be filled with a professorship for Functional Soil Biodiversity Research. The process is underway.
[1]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322934819_FRANKFURT_DRESDEN_GORLITZ_MUNCHEBERG_Senckenberg_Its_Zoological_Collections_and_Their_Histories Pp. 354-364
[2]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344205995_Naturkundliche_Wanderausstellungen_Inhalte_Anforderungen_Risiken_und_Chancen Pp. 28-36
[3] https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/reader/download/442/442-16-83591-1-10-20181217.pdf Pp. 27-33
[4]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326735604_Increasing_awareness_for_soil_biodiversity_and_protection_-_The_international_touring_exhibition_The_Thin_Skin_of_the_Earth Pp. 79-94
[5] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334172361_Slow-moving_soil_organisms_on_a_water_highway_aquatic_dispersal_and_survival_potential_of_Oribatida_and_Collembola_in_running_water Pp. 1-14
[6]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312190059_Revision_of_the_Australian_millipede_genus_Pogonosternum_Jeekel_1965_with_descriptions_of_two_new_species_Diplopoda_Polydesmida_Paradoxosomatidae Pp. 1-34
[7]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313241334_Respiratory_adaptations_to_a_combination_of_oxygen_deprivation_and_extreme_carbon_dioxide_concentration_in_nematodes Pp. 34-40
[8] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286538963_Boden_-_ein_unterschatzter_Lebensraum Pp. 388-395
[9] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262304320_The_Edaphobase_project_of_GBIF-Germany_-_A_new_online_soil-zoological_data_warehouse Pp. 3-12
[10] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338457214_SOIL_ORGANISMS_-_an_international_open_access_journal_on_the_taxonomic_and_functional_biodiversity_in_the_soil Pp. 33-35
[11] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343282021_Soil_and_biodiversity_-_Demands_on_politics Pp. 95-98
[12]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326735604_Increasing_awareness_for_soil_biodiversity_and_protection_-_The_international_touring_exhibition_The_Thin_Skin_of_the_Earth Pp. 79-94
[13] https://www.senckenberg.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20180221_NFM-148_01-03.pdf Pp. 28-30
[14]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313251331_Museums_of_Natural_Sciences_and_Museums_of_Natural_History Pp. 116-119
[15] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313251260_Xylander_WER_2016_c_Citizen_Science_-_Potentiale_und_Grenzen_der_Einbeziehung_von_Burgern_in_die_Forschung_Ber_Naturforsch_Ges_Oberlausitz_24_103-114 Pp. 103-114
[16]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346627757_Societys_awareness_for_protection_of_soils_its_biodiversity_and_function_in_2030_-_We_need_a_more_intrinsic_approach Pp. 203-212
[17]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348805380_Ready_for_Restitution_Meeting_Challenges_of_Colonial_Legacies_in_Africa's_Collections Pp. 322-324
[18]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326735604_Increasing_awareness_for_soil_biodiversity_and_protection_-_The_international_touring_exhibition_The_Thin_Skin_of_the_Earth Pp. 79-94
[19] https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/reader/download/442/442-16-83591-1-10-20181217.pdf Pp. 27-33
[20] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331982143_Adventure_Soil_Life-A_virtual_journey_through_an_unknown_world