Research

Funding: Aarhus University, DK, 9.736 EUR

Project Details:
In 2021, data on the abundance and distribution of marine mammals were to be collected as part of an environmental impact assessment. The study area is located in the Kattegat near the Danish island of Hesselø. A new offshore wind farm is to be built there. The main target species of the present survey was the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).
The flight surveys were conducted by Aarhus University and followed the line transect method. In total, the area was surveyed three times in 2021. ITAW was commissioned by Aarhus University to accompany the planning and organisation of the new survey and to quality assure and evaluate the collected data.

Results:

For the three surveys of the study area, densities and abundances of harbour porpoises were estimated and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation were determined. The processed data and results were submitted to the client.

Funding: Industry (Feed manifacturing) , 22.000 EUR

Funding: LUH, 30.000 EUR

Project Details:
An efficient, cost-effective test system will be established to test a large number of people as quickly as possible
(> 1,000/day). In three process steps i) Samples are taken in mobile test centers
(Throat swab according to the standard of the Robert Koch Institute), ii) processed (RNA isolation) and iii) evaluated by means of PCR analysis according to the Charité Berlin1 protocol. Positive results from the screening will be
diagnostically confirmed by certified laboratories and reported to the local health department. The mobile stations
are built on the basis of flexibly set up shipping containers and both for taking swabs
as well as the purification set up. In this way, a strict separation between the removal and
the processing of potentially infectious material in the mobile container and the subsequent analysis of the
non-infectious RNA samples secured in separate laboratories.

Funding: Associations, 7.013 EUR

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur Volkswagenstiftung, 75.000 EUR

Project Details:
Various studies have already shown effects of chemicals from everyday products on the environment and health. The European Green Deal therefore aims to better assess the risks of hazardous chemicals and in particular very persistent chemicals in a timely manner. Pollution from persistent and mobile chemicals is closely linked to prevailing production and consumption patterns and is determined by the lack of appropriate technical options. These chemicals also challenge regulators to develop and enforce effective policies. The project aimed at increasing knowledge on health and environmental effects on aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. In addition to developing solutions for monitoring, a better understanding of the accumulation of these chemicals in the environment, in line with the EU call with the planned research project, should also help to proactively prevent negative impacts of persistent and mobile chemicals on humans and the environment.
The project serves to build and consolidate a project consortium to ensure the project application and a joint timely application in this EU funding programme. The involvement of many European countries in the project consortium should make it possible to write the project proposal with experienced scientists from the fields of toxicology and health and to submit it on time with an external professional office for EU project applications.

Results:

In the project, a project consortium was established to ensure a project proposal and a joint timely application in this EU funding program. The involvement of many European countries in the project consortium made it possible to write the project application with experienced scientists from the fields of toxicology and health and to submit it on time with an external professional office for EU project applications.

Funding: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
The projects`main question is if, why and how the welfare of farm animals is connected to the idea of sustainability and if animals`interests are playing a role in the present discussions on sustainability.

Results:

In current sustainability concepts, animals and animal welfare are only indirectly addressed in places, although this preliminary study has shown that their inclusion is socially desirable or even demanded. The extent to which the anthropocentric sustainability goals and the welfare of farm animals can be meaningfully linked will be the subject of a follow-up project.

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 49.945 EUR

Project Details:
Modul 1: Online-Betreuungsmodul im Lernmanagementsystem Moodle
- Moderiertes Forum und online-Frage-Sprechstunden
- Studierende können Fallbeispiele aus ihrem Praktikum hochladen, die vom Betreuer geprüft und beantwortet, kommentiert und dann bei Eignung dem gesamten Kurs zur Verfügung gestellt werden
- Selbstlernangebot durch Bereitstellung von begleitenden Materialien (Skript, Gesetzestexte, Bildmaterial, Fallbeispiele, Anleitung zur Reflexion und Achtsamkeit und zu Resilienztraining)
Modul 2: Offline-Betreuungsmodul unter anderem vor Ort im Schlachthof
-Fokusgruppengespräch mit Studierenden (Bedarfsermittlung)
-Besuch der Studierenden in ihren Praktikumsstätten über einen Zeitraum von 8 Monaten (diverse Schlachthöfe)
-Leitfadengestützte Interviews mit Studierenden im Schlachthof (Situationen und Fragestellungen werden aufgearbeitet und dokumentiert)

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 116.300 EUR

Project Details:
Neozoa are alien or non-native animal species that have been directly or indirectly introduced into a new habitat by humans. Intentional and unintentional introductions pose a threat to biodiversity worldwide. One prominent example is the raccoon. This problem is well known and is taken into account in Germany, for example, in the Federal Nature Conservation Act and the National Biodiversity Strategy. However, it is often unclear how introduced animal species should be dealt with. Prevention is the top priority. The aim is to prevent new species from being introduced and spreading. However, depending on the species and the invasiveness assessment by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, animals are also removed and killed. This leads to a conflict between animal welfare, species protection and environmental protection. Although animal-related issues are usually discussed very emotionally, this problem has so far only been partially recognized by the public. For this reason, this area of conflict will be addressed during the project and discussed with various interest groups. The focus will be on two projects of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, which deal with the introduction of the nutria, originally from South America.

Results:

Gethöffer, F.; Kirberg, S.; Schöttes, F.; Siebert, U. Der Umgang mit Neozoen: ein gesellschaftlicher Diskurs. Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung 2022, 54 (6), 30-36. https://doi.org/10.1399/NuL.2022.06.03.

https://doi.org/10.1399/NuL.2022.06.03

Funding: DZIF, 200.000 EUR

Project Details:
Die Impfstoffentwicklung gegen COVID-19 ist von höchster Dringlichkeit, wofür es jedoch zunächst einiger prä-klinischer Experimente bedarf, bevor Studien im Menschen angewandt werden können. MVA-SARS-CoV-2 Impfstoffe sollen hierfür im Tiermodell auf Sicherheit und Immunogenität getestet werden. Dabei soll das Hamstermodell im Vordergrund stehen, da Hamster ein ähnlich aufgebautes ACE-2 Protein exprimieren und sich darüber hinaus schon in der SARS-CoV-1 Forschung als Tiermodell bewährt haben.

Funding: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 41.976 EUR

Project Details:
In this project, the activity fluxes of indicator virus aerosols are measured under different parameter settings in gas flow apparatus.