Johannes CG Ottow

Johannes Carl Gottlob Ottow (born September 4, 1935 in Madiun , Java ; † August 20, 2011 ) was a German-Dutch microbiologist who worked primarily in the fields of soil microbiology and soil biology.

Life

Ottow began studying agricultural sciences at the Agricultural University in Wageningen (Netherlands) and then moved to the Justus Liebig University in Gießen , where he graduated in 1965 with a degree in agricultural engineering. From 1965 to 1966 he studied bacteriology and biochemistry at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, USA, with a Master of Science degree. He received his doctorate summa cum laude in Gießen in 1969 with Hans Glathe as a doctor of agricultural sciences and then worked as an assistant at the Institute for Microbiology at the Technical University of Darmstadt until 1974. In 1974 he was appointed professor of soil biochemistry at the University of Hohenheim . In 1975 he completed his habilitation in the subject “Soil Biochemistry”. In 1986 he became professor for soil microbiology in Giessen and thus as the successor to his doctoral supervisor Glathe, director of the Institute for Applied Microbiology. From 1988 to 1999 Ottow headed this institute until his retirement . During his time at the University of Hohenheim from 1985 to 1986, Ottow was Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Landscape Ecology and a member of the Grand Senate.

Act

Ottow is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific publications, including several monographs. He mainly worked in the fields of microbiology and biochemistry of the iron and manganese cycle in soils and sediments as well as denitrification and nitrous oxide formation in soils. He also dealt with the formation of manganese nodules in the deep sea. Since 1980 Ottow has dealt with soil and soil fertility problems of wet rice cultivation in the tropics, mainly in cooperation with international rice research institutes such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines and the West Africa Rice Research Association (WARRA), Ivory Coast. At the invitation of the Director General of IRRI, Ottow spent a year researching stay (1980/1981) in the Philippines.

Ottow was President of the Commission for Soil Biology of the International Soil Science Union (ISSU) from 1986 to 1990. In 1985 he initiated the publication of the scientific journal Biology and Fertility of Soils , of which he was the main editor until 2000.

After his retirement in 2000, Ottow dealt in detail with the life story of his great-grandfather Carl Wilhelm Ottow (1827–1862), the first missionary among the cannibals of New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea).

Honors

In 1999 Ottow was awarded the Sprengel-Liebig-Medal in gold by the Association of German Agricultural Inspection and Research Institutes (VDLUFA) . In addition, the bacterial genus Ottowia, which belongs to the Proteobacteria , and the ciliate species Oxytricha ottowi have been named after him.

Fonts (selection)

• Environmental biotechnology (co-editor) Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-437-25230-5 .
• Microbiology of Soils: Biodiversity, Ecophysiology and Metagenomics , Springer Verlag, Heidelberg New York 2011, ISBN 3-642-00823-2 .
• In the name of God we are entering this land. The first missionaries Carl Wilhelm Ottow and his wife Auguste among the cannibals in New Guinea (1855-1862). Lit-Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7924-0 . - with Helga Ottow

literature

• Ulrich Fellmeth , Kathrin Qust: The academic teachers at the University of Hohenheim 1968 to 2005 . In: Ulrich Fellmeth, Harald Winkel (Ed.): Hohenheimer Themes 15./16. Born in 2006/07. Pp. 323–324. ( Online, PDF )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Justus Liebig University of Giessen mourns the loss of Prof. Dr. agr. Johannes CG Ottow. In: Gießener Anzeiger. September 3, 2011, archived from the original on September 5, 2011 ; Retrieved September 5, 2011 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Ulrich Fellmeth, Kathrin Qust: The academic teachers at the University of Hohenheim 1968 to 2005 . In: Ulrich Fellmeth, Harald Winkel (Ed.): Hohenheimer Themes 15./16. Born in 2006/07. Pp. 323–324. ( Online, PDF )
3. ^ ^{A b} Justus Liebig University Gießen: Information from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Ecotrophology and Environmental Management. 2000 year 23. pp. 16-17. ( Online, PDF )
4. ↑ Description of Ottowia gen. Nov. ( Online ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ) 
5. ^ Foissner, Wilhelm: Terrestrial ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from two islands (Cough, Marion) in the southern oceans, with description of two new species, Arcuospanthidium cooperi and Oyxtricha ottowi. Biol. Fertil. Soils 23, 282-291 (1996)