Ulrich Stottmeister

Ulrich Stottmeister, 2016

Ulrich Stottmeister (born December 20, 1939 in Kyritz , Ostprignitz ) is a German chemist and professor of technical chemistry and biotechnology .

Life

Stottmeister attended the Goethe High School in Kyritz (Abitur 1957). The professional entry began in 1957 with an apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant in the electrochemical combine Bitterfeld CKB. From 1959 to 1964 he studied chemistry at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig .

After receiving his doctorate (1968), Stottmeister took up work as a laboratory manager in industry and in 1970 switched from the field of electrochemical analysis to technical microbiology. In the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (Institute for Technical Chemistry, Institute for Biotechnology in Leipzig) he was a research assistant from 1970 and from 1986 to 1991 department head (microbial product synthesis and microbial degradation).

From 1991 until the transition to retirement in 2004, Stottmeister worked at the UFZ Leipzig / Halle Environmental Research Center as head of the remediation research section, and later the department for environmental biotechnology. The extensive international work with a wide variety of scientific tasks extended not only to the countries of Eastern Europe, but after 1989 also to many countries in Asia and America.

Qualifications and appointments

• 1968: Dr. rer. nat. (Contributions to the analytical chemistry of some carbonic acid-sulfur derivatives)
• 1986: Dr. sc. nat. (On the influence of oxygen on microbial product synthesis)
• 1987: "facultas docendii" and honorary lecturer, 1991 re-habilitation to Dr. rer. nat. habil.
• 1991: Assistant Professor University of Waterloo , Canada
• 1995: C4 professor for biotechnology / technical chemistry at Leipzig University
• 1996: Full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig
• 1997–2002: "scientific advisor" of the scientific cooperation between Germany and Canada, Environment Sector of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research .
• 2000: Adjunct Professor University of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• 2002: Full member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech
• 2004–2008: Vice President and President of the International Society of Environmental Biotechnology (ISEB)
• 2017: Member of the Academic Council of the Humboldt Society

Act

As author, co-author and editor, Stottmeister is responsible for 10 books and monographs. He is the author and co-author of more than 150 scientific publications.

His scientific activity is characterized by the fact that he has added a number of connecting aspects from chemistry and physical chemistry to the field of “technical microbiology” with the sub-areas “microbial product synthesis” and “microbiological pollutant removal”. In product synthesis, this includes influencing the metabolic pathways of the microorganisms through process engineering parameters (e.g. oxygen partial pressure, nutrient limitations, substrate selection, etc.). Target products were

• Biopolymers from gases containing methane (made-to-measure biopolymers).
• Organic acids as “building blocks”: for N -heterocycle synthesis.
• "White biotechnology for green chemistry". Environmental and raw material aspects through the connection of the modules yeast genetics, bioprocess engineering, product isolation, synthetic chemistry in cooperation with the TU Dresden (yeast genetics G. Barth), the University of Leipzig (synthetic chemistry, H. Wilde, D. Sicker) and the environmental biotechnology center of the UFZ ( A. Aurich).

In the research units led by Stottmeister, aspects of microbial degradation of pollutants were always worked on simultaneously in other working groups, parallel to topics of biosynthesis. Before 1989, this concerned issues relating to the purification of waste water from the carbon chemistry. After this time, the focus of the work shifted primarily to the remediation of contaminated sites in this former central German branch of industry. The work on phytoremediation and "enhanced natural attenuation" are from these subject areas. After 2004 and the retirement age with the departure from the University of Leipzig and the UFZ, projects on "renewable raw materials" and "land recycling" were worked on in the Saxon Academy of Sciences. Stottmeister recently published his results on studies in the history of science and technology as well as on specific questions in Alexander von Humboldt research.

Selected publications

• K.-D. Wendlandt, U. Stottmeister, J. Helm, B. Soltmann, M. Jechorek, M. Beck: The potential of methane-oxidizing bacteria for applications in environmental biotechnology. In: Eng. Lif. Sci. 10, (2), 2010, pp. 87-102.
• A. Aurich, R. Specht, RA Müller, U. Stottmeister, V. Yovkova, C. Otto, M. Holz, G. Barth, P. Heretsch, FA Thomas, D. Sicker, A. Giannis: Microbiologically produced carboxylic acids used as building blocks in organic synthesis. In: X. Wang, J. Chen, P. Quinn (Eds.): Subcellular Biochemistry. Volume 64: Reprogramming Microbial Metabolic Pathways. Part 2, Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2012, pp. 391–424.
• U. Stottmeister, A. Aurich, H. Wilde, J. Andersch, S. Schmidt, D. Sicker: White biotechnology for green chemistry: fermentative 2-oxocarboxylic acids as novel building blocks for subsequent chemical syntheses. In: J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 32 (11-12), 2005, pp. 651-664.
• U. Stottmeister, A. Wießner, P. Kuschk, U. Kappelmeyer, M. Kästner, O. Bederski, RA Müller, H. Moormann: Effects of plants and microorganisms in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment In: Biotechnol. Adv. 22 (1-2), 2003, pp. 93-117.
• U. Stottmeister, P. Kuschk, A. Wiessner: Full-scale bioremediation and long-term monitoring of a phenolic wastewater disposal lake. In: Pure and Applied Chemistry . 82 (1), 2010, pp. 161-173.
• U. Stottmeister, A. Mondschein, S. Tech, H. Ninnemann, L. Schiffer: The material use of renewable raw materials: opportunities and risks. In: Meeting reports of the Saxon Academy of Sciences. Technical science Kl. Volume 4, Issue 2, S. Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2014.
• U. Stottmeister, H. Auge, L. Zerling: Land Consumption and Reverse Engineering: Experiences and Suggestions from Opencast Mine Restoration. In: Treatises of the Saxon Academy of Sciences. Technical science Kl. Volume 1, Issue 5, S. Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2017.
• U. Stottmeister: Contribution to the history of technology in Central Germany. Technological and technical developments for the biological purification of phenol-containing wastewater from carbochemistry. In: Abhandlung, Technikwissenschaftl. Kl. Volume 1, Issue 4, S. Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2012.
• U. Stottmeister: Eberhard Leibnitz (1910–1986) and the chemistry of Central Germany in research and teaching . University Press Leipzig 2018.
• U. Stottmeister: Environmental thoughts on Alexander von Humboldt. In: Humboldt on the Net. HiN International Journal of Humboldt Research. XVIII (35), 2017, pp. 75-94.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leipziger Volkszeitung. December 20, 2004.