Face of the LIB: Thomas Wesener

What is the highlight of your day-to-day work at the LIB?

The research. When I manage to discover something new, something unknown through my research. When I discover a new species or finally realise a new system - either in nature or in our museum landscape - that's always a big highlight for me. Thankfully, this happens to me almost every month. Most recently, we received a large collection of cave millipedes from Cambodia. There are numerous caves here and different animals were found in each one, which were unknown and undescribed until recently. Only about 40 species of millipedes are known in the country so far, but there are certainly over 300 different species there. This harbours incredible potential for my work.

Which animals are particularly close to your heart?

I study millipedes because so little is known about these animals and they have evolved in so many different ways. Around 90 per cent of all species are still unknown to us. We still know relatively little about their way of life in particular. Beyond my research, I am a real fan of Sumatran rhinos. This is a completely crazy rhino that is actually far too small. That's why it's also called a pygmy rhino. It also has red hair and two horns - instead of just one. It can whistle and likes to whistle to itself. We always think that as zoologists we have such a good overview, but then you stand in front of an animal like this and are blown away because you didn't expect something like this.

Is there a place in nature that has a special meaning for you?

There's an old volcano near here - it's called "Bausenberg" near Niederzissen in Rhineland-Palatinate. It's always around five degrees warmer there than in the surrounding area, which is why many animal and plant species can be found there that we otherwise only know from the Mediterranean. It's practically a world of its own, which is why I find it particularly fascinating. It is a very popular destination for day trips for my family and me, especially in spring. The slightly warmer temperatures make it easier to walk around without jackets. Our children also love the lava landscape there.

How would you explain the technical term "biodiversity" to children or older people?

I think the colloquial translation for the term - biodiversity - fits very well. People are often surprised at what is hidden under the microscope in a handful of soil and the variety of species we find there. If you take a closer look, you will notice that it is not "just" ducks swimming on a pond, but that they differ from each other in colour, size and behaviour. It is important that we look and are aware of these differences. Our work here at the LIB is therefore important to make society aware of the loss of biodiversity and to provide further evidence through our research.

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

I would like to see biodiversity change and species extinction become more visible in the exhibitions. A large part of our budget goes into research and this should also be visible in the exhibition. Especially with a view to a new natural history museum in Hamburg, I would be very pleased about this development.

The biggest challenge in species conservation?

For me, it's the extinction of species. Many species simply die out due to human misplanning and stupidity. Because "it can't be avoided". A good example of this is the field hamster in North Rhine-Westphalia: Here, construction projects were initiated on fields that are considered rare habitats for the small rodent. Although there were enough free fields, the decision was made against protecting the animals and in favour of this construction project. The problem is rarely human needs, but too often human decisions.

When did you realise that being a biologist was my dream job?

I realised that as a child. There was always an interest in animals and I always wanted to know something new and unknown about animals. I still have this curiosity today and it also motivated me to study biology back then. However, the tasks are more varied than I had initially assumed. In the first semester, I realised how much further my knowledge had to go than biology and how much we still don't know about nature as a whole. I find it exciting how much there is still to discover.

Would there have been an alternative for you?

I probably would have studied history - that would have been my alternative. I would also have liked to have discovered things in this subject area that are still unknown to us. But to be completely honest: I applied all over the world as a biologist - including Korea and Russia - to be able to realise my dream. So it's hard for me to seriously consider this "alternative". This position as curator of the collection and researcher at Museum Koenig Bonn is my professional dream come true.

What advice would you give a young biologist at the start of their career?

If you really want to do this, then choose a project straight away where you can put all your heart and passion into it. There will always be difficult moments in between, and if you don't have a certain fire burning inside you, it will be difficult to overcome these hurdles. In teaching, I mainly deal with Master's students and see a lot of this passion in their faces. For a career in science, you also need to be flexible in terms of location and accept jobs even if they are advertised in faraway countries.

Which area of the LIB is particularly close to your heart?

I think our collections are great in general. Not just my own, because of course that also means work for me, but also the entomological collection here in Bonn, for example. You enter the room and there are 2.5 million butterflies behind glass - I think there's no better way to bring biodiversity closer to other people. These different colours, shapes and sizes are very impressive.

Dr Thomas Wesener was born and grew up in the Ruhr region. From 1999 to 2004, he studied biology at Ruhr University Bochum, specialising in giant millipedes in Madagascar's coastal rainforests. He then wrote his doctoral thesis on the faunas of Madagascar's millipedes in Bochum and Bonn. From 2008 to 2010 he was a postdoc at the Field Museum in Chicago. Since the end of 2010, Thomas Wesener has been curator for Myriapoda (millipedes) at the Museum Koenig Bonn. Unfortunately, he has been the only curator for Myriapoda in Germany for the past year.