Michaela Eder

Michaela Eder studied Forestry Management and the Forestry Industry at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna and was awarded her PhD in this discipline in 2007 for a thesis on »Structure, Function and Properties of Single Wood Fibres of Norway Spruce«. She currently leads the »Plant Material Adaptation« research group in the Biomaterials Department at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. The research group is primarily interested in the material properties (structure from the nano to the macro level, mechanics, etc.) of dead plant tissues, such as seed capsules that open in the vicinity of or after fires. When presenting the results of the group’s work, she seeks not only to engage researchers but also to reach a wider audience, and has participated in the Thyssenkrupp Ideas Park in Essen and the Potsdam Day of the Sciences, amongst other events, and gives talks in schools.