Prof. Justin Calabrese now 2nd full professor working at CASUS
Prof. Justin Calabrese, head of the Earth System Science research team at the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), has been appointed W3 professor at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden). He holds the professorship for Ecological Data Science and is jointly appointed by TU Dresden and CASUS’ governing institution Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). After a festive ceremony with TU Dresden Rector Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger, the assignment started in October at the beginning of the 2025/26 winter semester. Calabrese has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at University of Maryland (USA) since 2014.
CASUS Director Prof. Thomas Kühne welcomes the news: “Justin had been instrumental for the establishment and further development of CASUS into an internationally renowned research center in the field of complex systems science. With more than 40 peer-reviewed research publications since his start here in Görlitz in 2020, multiple of which are in high-impact journals, it is high time his efforts are recognized with a professorship here in Saxony.”
“Prof. Justin Calabrese has not only established and led a successful research team working at the interface of spatial ecology, Earth system science, and data science,” recalls Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, HZDR’s Scientific Director, “but as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, he also launched a rapid response unit focusing on optimized COVID-19 testing strategies that generated highly relevant findings.”
Additional information:
Prof. Dr. Justin Calabrese
Research Team Leader
Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR
Press contact:
Dr. Martin Laqua
Officer Communications, Press and Public Relations
Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR
TU Dresden Rector Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger presented Justin Calabrese with his certificate of appointment. Image: Sven Ellger/TU Dresden.
The Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Prof. Peter Krebs, emphasizes the perfect fit: “The faculty has long wanted to strengthen its position in data science, machine learning, and high-performance computing. With his expertise, Prof. Calabrese is a fantastic addition, and we are very happy to have him on board. Systems science perspectives are also becoming increasingly important in environmental sciences, and students at TU Dresden need to be familiar with the mathematical and data science fundamentals behind them in order to be prepared for their professional future.”
“As a full professor at TU Dresden, my goal is to strengthen the connection between the University and the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding at HZDR,” says Calabrese. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to establish new collaborations between the Earth System Science research program at CASUS and the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at TU Dresden. Furthermore, through my teaching and mentoring activities, I’m looking forward to introducing TU Dresden students to the cutting-edge complex systems research happening at CASUS.”
Career in the US and Germany
Justin Calabrese earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 1997, and subsequently completed his Ph.D. in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics at the University of Maryland, College Park (all USA) in 2005. The US native moved to Germany to join the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig as a DAAD Helmholtz Postdoctoral Fellow (2005–2007). He continued as a Postdoctoral Research Associate from 2007 to 2010 in the UFZ’s Department of Ecological Modelling. From 2010 to 2019, Calabrese served as a Research Ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia while also holding an ongoing appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland (2014–present, both USA). He joined the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) in Görlitz (Germany) first as Visiting Faculty (2020–2021) and later as Research Team Leader for Earth System Science (2021–present).
Additional information:
Prof. Dr. Justin Calabrese
Research Team Leader
Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR
Press contact:
Dr. Martin Laqua
Officer Communications, Press and Public Relations Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR