Prof. Dr. Hardy Pfanz, born 1956 in Dinkelsbühl, Mittelfranken (Germany). He studied Biology and Geography at the University of Würzburg and made his dissertation at the Dept. of Plant Physiology (Prof. Dr. U. Heber). Habilitation at the Dept of Geobotany and Ecophysiology (Prof. Dr. O. L. Lange). Associate Professor at the Institute of Forest Botany and Forest Zoology (Prof. Dr. A. Roloff) at the University of Dresden (TU Dresden/ Tharandt). Since 1996 head of the Institue of Applied Botany at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Fields of research: Botanical Ecophysiology and Ecotoxicology, Phytopathology. Research stays abroad: Slovenia, Sweden, Italy, Czechia, Mexico, California and Arizona, as well as Taiwan and Japan.