Prof. em. Dr. Hans R. Thierstein

Hans R. Thierstein was full Professor of Micropalaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences of the ETH Zurich and the Geological Institute of the University of Zurich since April 1, 1985. He served as Prorector for international relations of ETH Zurich.

Hans R. Thierstein was born on May 27, 1944 in Zurich and studied geology at the University of Zurich where he graduated with a doctorate in geology in 1972. With a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation he did research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY and at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts from 1973 to 1976. The following nine years he spent as assistant, associate and full professor of geology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

His main research interests are palaeoceanography, evolution of the ocean plankton and the development of robots recognizing microfossils. His lectures focus on earth history, biosphere/geosphere interactions and the methods to reconstruct them from geological deposits. He chaired the steering committee of the Swiss Priority Program Environment of the Swiss National Science Foundation (1992-2002). He is a member of several scientific advisory committees and editorial boards and of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina. In 1998 he received the Prize of the Brandenberger Foundation.