Eva Mayr-Stihl Endowed Professorship for Fire Ecology at the University of Freiburg researches forest fires in Central Europe

• University of Freiburg establishes Eva Mayr-Stihl Endowed Professorship for Fire Ecology. Foundation provides 3.5 million euros for this purpose.
• Globally unique focus on forest fires in temperate climate zones, especially Central Europe.
• Basic research into the consequences of vegetation fires for biodiversity and ecosystems.

The University of Freiburg will establish a new Eva Mayr-Stihl Endowed Professorship for Fire Ecology. The professorship will carry out important basic research to better understand the consequences of forest fires and vegetation fires in open land for biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services as well as the interactions between forest fires and other disturbances in forest ecosystems. With a focus on forest fires in the temperate climate zone, particularly in Central Europe, it has a globally unique orientation. The professorship is made possible by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, which is providing 3.5 million euros over a period of 10 years. The signing of the cooperation agreement on 17 October 2024 in Freiburg was attended by Michael von Winning, Chairman of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein, Rector of the University of Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Heiner Schanz, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Georg Goldammer, internationally renowned fire ecologist and head of the Global Fire Monitoring Centre at the University of Freiburg.

‘With this globally unique professorship for fire ecology, we at the University of Freiburg are making a very important research contribution to the pressing challenges of climate change. The professorship will also further raise the University's profile as one of the world's most important centres for forestry, environmental sciences and environmental social sciences. We are very grateful to the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation for making this possible with the endowed professorship,’ emphasises Rector Krieglstein.

Scientific basis for understanding forest fires

‘Climate change is already causing an increase in forest fires, but this trend will intensify in the future. At the same time, the effects of fires, particularly in the temperate zone to which Central Europe belongs, are not yet sufficiently known in detail. This means that questions need to be addressed in the area of basic fire ecology research,’ explains Schanz. The new professorship's research should include experimental, observational and model-based approaches and therefore fits in perfectly with the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources and its established collaboration with strong forest science and forestry stakeholders in Freiburg. ‘The professorship will also network intensively with relevant partners and communities at state level and contribute important basic research, for example in the ForestFireFighting TransferLaboratory, which is currently being set up by the Rottenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences,’ adds Schanz.

Building on pioneering achievements in fire ecology

The new endowed professorship builds on a decades-long tradition of fire ecology at the University of Freiburg. The forest scientist Goldammer founded the Fire Ecology working group here at the end of the 1970s - a joint institution with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz since 1990 - and the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) in 1998, which advises states and international organisations on how to reduce forest fire disasters under the umbrella of the United Nations. The GFMC is currently being transferred to the Global Fire Management Hub of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), which was established in 2023 and is responsible for global forest management and forest protection. Goldammer was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 1 October 2024 for his pioneering work. "I am delighted that basic fire ecology research will now be firmly anchored at the University of Freiburg thanks to the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation," explains Goldammer.

Funding from the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation

The Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation is funding the professorship for fire ecology with 3.5 million euros for a period of 10 years from the date of appointment. Michael von Winning, Chairman of the Foundation, emphasises: ‘This is the first time a professorship for fire ecology has been established in Germany. With our fourth endowed professorship at the University of Freiburg, we are continuing our commitment to the sustainable adaptation of forests. At the same time, we are strengthening the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources as an outstanding centre of German and international forest science.’

At the end of the ten-year funding period, the professorship will be continued by the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources as a regular professorship. The Professorship of Fire Ecology is the fourth Eva Mayr-Stihl Endowed Professorship at the University of Freiburg, alongside the Professorship of Forest Genetics established in 2021 and the Professorship of Cross-Scale Material Characterisation created in 2023. The Professorship of Forest and Forest History was established in 2005 and has since expired.

The Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation was established in 1986 by Eva Mayr-Stihl and her husband Robert Mayr. One of the focal points of the foundation's work is the promotion of science and research. Since the 1990s, she has significantly strengthened the forest sciences and the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg with research projects and endowed professorships. At the same time, these sponsorships and support for the Young Academy for Sustainability Research and other innovative formats contributed significantly to the development of today's focus area ‘Pathways to Sustainability’ and the Sustainability Innovation Campus. The University of Freiburg has honoured Eva Mayr-Stihl and Robert Mayr with the title of Honorary Senator for their special contribution to the positive development of the university.

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