He received his Ph.D. in earth and environmental engineering from Columbia University, New York, USA. His research interests are in the ecology of microorganisms in surface water systems, including harmful algal blooms in lakes and the evolution of marine bacteria. He specializes in the development and application of mathematical models, with a focus on agent-based techniques. During the past 10 years, a unifying theme of his research has been the combination of systems biology and systems ecology, a concept he refers to as systems bioecology. Ferdi L. Hellweger's homepage