Inhaltspezifische Aktionen

Vanessa Tirpitz

Vanessa Tirpitz, Ph.D. student
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics
Justus Liebig University Giessen
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32 IFZ
D-35392 Giessen
Phone: +49 (0) 641 99-35713
E-Mail: Vanessa.Tirpitz

 

Fields of interest and focus of work

  • Effects of microplastic on tropical coral reefs
  • Reactions of coral polyps to microplastic
  • Incorporation of microdebris in reef-building corals

Research and Projects at the Marine Holobiomics Lab

 

Scientific career

  • since 2020: Ph.D. student at the Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
  • 2018-2020: Masters student (M.Sc. Biology with a focus on ecology, evolution, and nature conservation), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
    Thesis: “Effects of different mixtures of microdebris on the hermatypic corals Stylophora pistillata and Pocillopora verrucosa”
  • 2017-2018: Masters student (M.Sc. Integrative Zoology), University of Rostock, Germany
  • 2014-2017: Bachelor student, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
    Bachelor thesis: “Influence of different spectra of plasma induction lamps on the photosynthetic activity of the zooxanthellae of Acropora spp.”

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles
  • Tirpitz V, López MA, Krey T, Krüger C, Krüger-Zechlin V, Nagel M, Wiltschka K, Düring R-A, Ziegler M, Reichert J. 2026. Factors influencing the feeding responses of reef-building corals to microplastics. Marine Pollution Bulletin 227:119479. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119479.

  • Tirpitz V, Hutter M, Hutter H, Prume J, Koch M, Wilke T, Reichert J. 2025. Increasing microplastic concentrations have nonlinear impacts on the physiology of reef-building corals. Science of The Total Environment 960:178318. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178318.

  • López MA, Tirpitz V, Do M-S, Czermak M, Ferrier-Pagés C, Reichert J, Ziegler M. 2025. Heterotrophic feeding modulates the effects of microplastic on corals, but not when combined with heat stress. Science of The Total Environment 972:179026. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179026.
  • Grillo JF, Tirpitz V, Reichert J, Canesi M, Reynaud S, Douville E, Ziegler M. 2025. Coral Skeletal Cores as Windows Into Past Symbiodiniaceae Community Dynamics. Global Change Biology 31:e70575. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.70575.
  • Reichert J, Tirpitz V, Oponczewski M, Lin C, Franke N, Ziegler M, Wilke T (2024): Feeding responses of reef-building corals provide species- and concentration-dependent risk assessment of microplastic. The Science of The Total Environment, 913, 169485.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169485
  • Reichert J, Tirpitz V, Plaza K, Wörner E, Bösser L, Kühn S, Primpke S, Schubert P, Ziegler M, Wilke T (2024): Common types of microdebris affect the physiology of reef-building corals. The Science of The Total Environment, 912, 169276.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169276
  • Reichert J, Tirpitz V, Anand R, Bach K, Knopp J, Schubert P, Wilke T, Ziegler M (2021): Interactive effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on reef-building corals. Environmental Pollution, 290, 118010.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118010
Conference contributions
  • 2024: European Coral Reef Symposium, Naples, Italy, oral presentation.
  • 2023: 16th GGL Annual Conference 2023, Giessen, Germany, Poster.
  • 2023: ASLO Aquatic Science Meeting 2023: Resilience and recovery in aquatic systems, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Oral presentation.
  • 2022: 15th GGL Annual Conference 2022, Giessen, Oral presentation.
  • 2022: 15th ICRS International Coral Reef Symposium 2022, Bremen, Virtual Poster.
  • 2021: 14th GGL Annual Conference 2021, Giessen, Virtual, Oral presentation.
  • 2021: 14th ICRS International Coral Reef Symposium 2021, Bremen Virtual, Poster.
  • 2020: ICMS International Conference on Marine Science: tropical ocean for the future 2020, Colombia online, Poster.
  • 2019: ICYMARE International Conference for YOUNG Marine Researchers 2019, Bremen, Poster.