Professor Dr Norbert Jürgens is head of the research department for Biodiversity, Evolution and Plant Ecology (BEE) at the University of Hamburg. He is currently the coordinator for the research activities at SASSCAL, "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management"; a joint initiative of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Germany, responding to the challenges of global change. Moreover, his research focuses on the evolution and ecology of drought-adapted plants to deserts, desertification and global biodiversity observations.

Prior to this Dr Norbert Jürgens coordinated the "BIOTA AFRICA" (BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa) research project from the year 2000 to 2009. Throughout this project he gained a vast amount of experience on the change and the sustainable use of biodiversity in Africa. Additionally, he was involved as the coordinator for “The Future Okavango” project aimed at improving the knowledge based on land use management. From 1994 to 2000 he was a professor at the University of Cologne, where he was working in the Collaborative Research Centre on the "Arid climates, Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa (SFB 398 ACACIA)" initiatives.