Dr. Dorothea Bunzel
Institut für Geowissenschaften
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 209
D-69120 Heidelberg
Telefon: +49 6221 54-6048
E-Mail: Dorothea.Bunzel@geow.uni-heidelberg.de
Research Focus:
My research focuses on benthic ecosystem dynamics inferred from foraminiferal proxies, as well as biogeochemical and sedimentary processes across marginal marine and oceanic systems, with the aim of identifying key drivers of environmental change. My current work focuses on North Atlantic sediment records, where I reconstruct bottom-water oxygenation over the past ~45 kyr, with emphasis on Heinrich Events as end-members of glacial ocean circulation variability and episodes of AMOC weakening. This is based on a suite of quantitative and qualitative benthic foraminiferal oxygenation proxies, complemented by independent geochemical and sedimentological indicators of export productivity, allowing for a robust assessment of oxygenation-productivity coupling in marine systems under glacial-interglacial climate variability.
Scientific Career and Education:
- 05/2025 – today: Postdoctoral Researcher at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, Institute of Earth Science, Germany
- 02/2022 – 04/2025: Postdoctoral Researcher at Leibniz University Hannover, Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering, Germany
- 09/2016 – 04/2021: Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in Earth Sciences, Department of Earth System Sciences (Geology), University of Hamburg, Germany
- 11/2015 – 08/2016: Research Associate (Pre-doctoral) at University of Hamburg, Department of Earth System Sciences (Geology), Germany
- 10/2012 – 09/2015: Master of Science in Earth Sciences, Department of Earth System Sciences (Geology), University of Hamburg, Germany
- 11/2012 – 01/2013: Research Assistant at University of Hamburg, Centre of Natural History (CeNak), Germany
- 10/2009 – 09/2012: Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences, Department of Earth System Sciences (Geology), University of Hamburg, Germany
Field Work and Scientific Expeditions:
- 03/2022 – 10/2024: Biannual field campaigns in coastal foreshores (Wadden Sea) for monitoring hydro-, morpho- and vegetation dynamics as well as sediment sampling, Germany
- 09/2019 – 10/2019: RV SONNE, cruise SO270 (as PI), Indian Ocean, Seychelles and Mauritius
- 09/2018 – 10/2018: Sediment sampling campaigns in Wadden Sea salt marshes, Germany and Denmark
- 10/2016 – 11/2016: Sediment coring campaigns in Wadden Sea salt marshes, Germany
- 02/2013: FS HEINCKE, cruise HE394, North Sea, Germany
Publications (peer-reviewed):
- Schönebeck, J.-M., Bunzel, D., Paul, M., Schlurmann, T., 2026. Plant trait diversity buffers soil moisture dynamics on coastal dikes during drought periods. PLOS ONE 21, e0345552, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0345552.
- Spröer, F., Lojek, O., Bischoff, C., Bunzel, D., Paul, M., Goseberg, N., 2025. High fidelity numerical modelling of European brushwood groyne fluid-structure-interaction: Parametrization through Darcy–Forchheimer, reflection and transmission coefficients. Coastal Engineering 197, 104659, doi:10.1016/j.coastaleng.2024.104659.
- Bunzel, D., Milker, Y., Francescangeli, F., Schmiedl, G., 2023. Braving the extremes: Foraminifera document changes in climate-induced and anthropogenic stress in Wadden Sea salt marshes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11, doi:10.3389/fevo.2023.1199281.
- Francescangeli, F., Milker, Y., Bunzel, D., Thomas, H., Norbisrath, M., Schönfeld, J., Schmiedl, G., 2021. Recent benthic foraminiferal distribution in the Elbe Estuary (North Sea, Germany): A response to environmental stressors. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 251, 107198, doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107198.
- Bunzel, D., Milker, Y., Müller-Navarra, K., Arz, H.W., Schmiedl, G., 2021. North Sea salt-marsh archives trace past storminess and climate variability. Global and Planetary Change 198, 103403, doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103403.
- Bunzel, D., Milker, Y., Müller-Navarra, K., Arz, H.W., Friedrich, J., Lahajnar, N., Schmiedl, G., 2020. Integrated stratigraphy of foreland salt-marsh sediments of the south-eastern North Sea region. Newsletters on Stratigraphy53, 415–442, doi:10.1127/nos/2020/0540.
- Müller-Navarra, K., Milker, Y., Bunzel, D., Lindhorst, S., Friedrich, J., Arz, H.W., Schmiedl, G., 2019. Evolution of a salt marsh in the south-eastern North Sea region – Anthropogenic and natural forcing. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 218, 268–277, doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2018.12.022.
- Reolid, M., Reolid, J., Bunzel, D., Kaminski, M.A., Betzler, C., 2018. Recent arborescent dendrophryid foraminifera found on upper Pleistocene cold-water corals from the Inner Sea of the Maldives. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 48, 53–61, doi:10.2113/gsjfr.48.1.53.
- Bunzel, D., Schmiedl, G., Lindhorst, S., Mackensen, A., Reolid, J., Romahn, S., Betzler, C., 2017. A multi-proxy analysis of Late Quaternary ocean and climate variability for the Maldives, Inner Sea. Climate of the Past 13, 1791–1813, doi:10.5194/cp-13-1791-2017.
Research Funding:
- Internationale Wattenmeerforschung: SALTGARDEN – Nachhaltige adaptive Landschaften zur Förderung der Widerstandsfähigkeit und Dynamik des Naturerbes Wattenmeer (Leitantrag); Vorhaben: Anpassungsfähigkeit und Resilienz kulturgeprägter und biodiverser Salzwiesen.
Co-PI, 06/2024 – 05/2028, funded by BMFTR and BMUV, Grant No. 03F0958A, €980,800 - SALTGARDEN – Sustainable Adaptive Landscapes through Transdisciplinary Gardening to Advance the Resilience and Dynamics of our Ecological Natural-heritage. Joint German-Dutch research programme ‘Understanding complex pressures on the Wadden Sea and options for action’.
Co-PI, 06/2024 – 05/2028, funded by BMFTR, BMUV and NWO, Project No. NWA.1438.20.007, €2.8 million - KFKI: VeMoLahn – Interaction of vegetation and morphodynamics in brushwood groyne fields.
Co-PI, 11/2022 – 10/2025, funded by BMBF, Grant No. 03F0929B, €316,760