News
03.07.2019
Two new Ambassadors for the University of Tübingen
Two outstanding researchers in the fields of Plant Ecology and Geosciences have been appointed as University of Tübingen Ambassadors thanks to their academic distinction and outreach activities in Israel and the USA.
Dr. Merav Seifan and Professor Nadine McQuarrie both advocate greater international collaboration and student mobility for Tübingen.
It is a long-standing tradition that connects Dr. Merav Seifan from Ben Gurion University of the Negev with Tübingen. Since 2006, she has been working with her Tübingen host, Professor Katja Tielbörger, on plant ecology, starting as a Minerva fellow and then research assistant in Tübingen and later further expanding her connection with Tübingen through various joint projects, including students as well as researchers in Tübingen, Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Professor Tielbörger notes, “Dr. Seifan is a great expert especially in community ecology contributing to interdisciplinary challenges, like sustainable use of water and biodiversity that we are addressing in the Jordan River region right now”. As ambassador, Dr. Seifan views promoting the English-language programs at the University of Tübingen as a particularly effective way to increase the mobility of students and researchers between Israel and Tübingen.
This is also true for the other ambassador honored on Monday, June 24. “Why not study Geosciences in Germany?” The English-language Master’s program in Applied Geosciences in Tübingen is equally as excellent as in the US”, says Professor Nadine McQuarrie, Professor of Geosciences and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of
Pittsburgh, “and not nearly as expensive”. Her alumni relations to Tübingen date back to 2011, when she became a Humboldt Fellow and conducted research in Geosciences and Geodynamics together with the Tübingen Earth System Dynamics Research Group led by Professor Todd Ehlers. Having strong alumni relations is very common at her current university, the University of Pittsburgh, so the role of an ambassador comes easily to her. “Tübingen should have more international students, and German should not be an obstacle, but an option to learn another interesting language.” Her Tübingen host Professor Todd Ehlers, himself originally from the US, confirms the need to publicize the University of Tübingen to American students. “This is a great chance to have Nadine McQuarrie helping us to increase our international visibility.”
The University Ambassador title is awarded to research alumni and alumnae of the University of Tübingen whose connections to their alma mater are of outstanding quality and eminence. The ambassador network is part of Tübingen’s international research alumni relations within the framework of the University’s internationalization strategy.
Christin Wannagat
Earth System Dynamics Research Group
Tübingen Research Alumni Network TRACe
