Face of the LIB: Benjamin Wipfler

What led you to biology? Was there a key experience?

I actually always wanted to be a biologist. When I was a child, everyone else had a Panini album and collected footballers. I, on the other hand, collected the animal stickers for the WWF album - and I had them all. When I was still missing two, I grabbed the box of stickers from my parents' bookshop and tore open as many as I could until I finally had them. But I was never the "classic collector" who collected animals as a child.

What would you have become if biology hadn't worked out?

I once considered studying computer science. Today I'm glad I didn't do that. As I didn't want to study straight after leaving school, I didn't have to join the army and I come from a publishing family, I initially trained as a publishing clerk. But basically, there was never really an alternative to biology for me. I'm now the only person in my family who trained as a publisher but doesn't work in publishing.

What fascinated you about morphological research in particular?

Originally, I wanted to become a marine biologist. Unfortunately, when I realised that I get very seasick, it didn't work out. I came to morphology by chance. I studied in Göttingen and worked as a student assistant in the working group that produced the very first computed tomography (CT) scans of insects. Cutting open the animals and looking inside them in combination with modern methods fascinated me, so I stayed with morphology.

What is it about working in the morphology lab?

We are organised methodically and do not work on an organism-specific basis: if researchers are interested in studying an organism morphologically, they can come to us and we offer our support: What equipment is needed? Do we have them and how are they operated? How will the data be analysed? This gives me the opportunity to contribute to the planning and analysis, which are the most exciting parts of projects for me. Whether it's the intestinal morphology of sea snails or the genitalia of beetles - it's the diversity of questions that makes working in the morphology lab so special. For me, this is my absolute dream job.

What aspect of your job is a highlight for you?

The fact that I work with so many different people. I think I have now collaborated with all my colleagues working in organismic biology at the Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology. Another highlight is that I am constantly dealing with new topics and never stand still.

Do you have a dream of what your work could have achieved in five or ten years' time?

I see great potential in the symbiosis between Hamburg and Bonn. For the morphology laboratories at both locations, we have decided that we are one unit - a cog in the LIB's wheel. Internally, our aim as a central facility at the institute is to contribute to the networking of sections, departments, centres and sites. Methods can be an important interface and offer a great opportunity to bring different areas together.

An overarching goal is to increase the visibility of morphological research. When I started, morphology was virtually written off and molecular biology was at its peak. Morphological methods were considered old-fashioned because they were used as they were a hundred years ago. We were told "You still do that?". In recent years, however, methods have been incredibly upgraded and modernised. This also makes morphology attractive to the outside world. On guided tours, I always find that people are very interested and find it exciting to see inside animals.

Is there a favourite place in nature?

My garden! I'm a keen gardener. The garden is my balance. And the forest by the idyllic Katzenlochbach stream in Röttgen, right next to our house. It's beautiful there and I love being there.

Crabs, fish, butterflies: Which species do you have a personal affection for and why?

I have to differentiate between professional and private. Professionally, the polyneopterous insects: These include grasshoppers, cockroaches and earwigs. Privately, cats are my favourite animals. But I also really like sloths because they are cute and simply different: they spend most of their time hanging upside down from the tree, their fur is different and they don't go for speed - quite the opposite.

What is currently the biggest challenge for you in the field of environmental protection?

The perception of species extinction, even here in our neighbourhood. When people think of species extinction - and I include myself in this - they often think of the deforested rainforest in the tropics and not of the fields on our doorstep that are being sprayed. Although a lot has been achieved in environmental protection in recent decades, we still have enormous losses of species.

What do you want people to associate with the LIB in ten years' time?

Biodiversity change: As the LIB, we have to make people understand what biodiversity change means, that it is not just an issue for science, but will have massive consequences for us all. Compared to climate change, many people are not even aware of the problem of biodiversity change.

More information about the morphology laboratory in Bonn and the entire team with Benjamin Wipfler, Juliane Vehof, Mariam Gabelaia, Tim Dannenfeld and Franziska Schmickler can be found here.

DR. BENJAMIN WIPFLER studiedbiology in Göttingen and wrote his diploma thesis on the head morphology of praying mantises. For his doctoral thesis on the head structures of polyneopteran insects, he moved to the Friedrich Schiller University Jena to work with Prof Beutel. He has been working at the Museum Koenig since 2018 and lives with his family in Bonn.