University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
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Prof. Prof. h. c. Dr. Ursula Siebert Prof. Prof. h. c. Dr. Ursula Siebert is the Director of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) and Vice President for Research (VPF) of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo). Her research work focuses on the ecology and health of marine mammals, the effects of anthropogenic activities on the animals, as well as their protection and management. She is board certified for the European College of Zoological Medicine – Wildlife Population Health (ECZM-WPH) and the European College of Aquatic Animal Health (ECAAH). Since 1992, she has been active in numerous international scientific committees for marine mammals and fish such as ICES, IWC, ASCOBANS, TSEG, HELCOM, OSPAR. She regularly participates in national and international assessments and is or has been active on various advisory boards of federal and state institutions. |
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Dr. Stephanie Gross, PhD Dr. Stephanie Gross, PhD, is a veterinarian and researcher at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW). Her research work focuses on marine mammals and here specifically on the health examinations on live-caught harbour seal and grey seals, as well as necropsies on deceased seals and whales. She is particularly interested in microbiological findings in native seals and porpoises and has performed her PhD on antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from marine animal species of the North and Baltic Sea. She is board certified for the European College of Zoological Medicine – Wildlife Population Health (ECZM-WPH). In the MARRES project, the three institutions ITAW, Hel Marine Station (HMS UG) and Lithuanian Sea Museum (LSM) are responsible to obtain the required samples. These include rectal swabs from alive grey seal pups and weaners as well as rectal swabs from dead grey seals and harbour seals. In addition, they will take water samples of the North and Baltic Seas, on- and off-shore and at three different seasons. All samples will be analysed by the two microbiology diagnostic laboratories, the Institute of Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals (IHIT) at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen and the Microbiology and Virology Institute at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, for the identification of AMR bacteria. Furthermore, IHIT, together with the Robert Koch Institute, evaluates the AMR data obtained regarding merging clones, plasmids, and other mobile genetic elements associated with AMR genes. Additionally, ITAW and IHIT will investigate the acquisition of AMR bacteria and AMR genes by juvenile grey seals in the North Sea using satellite transmitters on the animals to follow their routes. |
