Brief curriculum of Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Foissner

Wilhelm Foissner was born in Austria on 18.08.1948. He studied zoology and botany at Salzburg University where he became Professor in 1987. Professor Foissner and his group are involved in studying taxonomy and ecology of free-living protists, mainly ciliates and testate amoebae. He is a "classical" biodiversity researcher having described about 500 new species, mainly ciliates from soils worldwide. He also significantly contributed to the ecology of soil protozoa. Foissner and his group have published 12 books, more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, and got many prices. His five monographs on the taxonomy and ecology of ciliates used as bioindicators in running and stagnant waters made the research group known also outside the special field.