Scientist, Marine Ecology Division, GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, Germany (http://www.geomar.de/en/mitarbeiter/fb3/eoe/eoe-b/fweinberger/).

A botanist and microbiologist by training, I have since 1990 been involved in projects related to physiological, biochemical, and molecular biological aspects of seaweed and aquatic plant ecology, aquaculture and use. Since March 2005, I am responsible for the chemical ecology laboratory at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Science at Kiel, Germany. My main research interests are the ecological interactions of seaweeds and seagrasses with epibionts, pathogens, consumers and competitors, their dynamics and their molecular basis. Current research topics include the identification of ecologically relevant defense compounds against epibionts and pathogens, the biochemical and immunological mechanisms of defense regulation and their evolution. Another main focus of my recent research activity is on the ecology of nuisance seaweeds and on the eco-evolutionary implications of seaweed invasions.