On July 23, the Committee on the International Prize for Biology (chaired by Dr. FUJIYOSHI Yoshinori, Distinguished Professor, Tokyo Medical and Dental University) decided to award the 40th (2024) International Prize for Biology to Dr. Angelika Brandt, Professor, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt /Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. 
This year’s Prize is awarded in the field of the Systematic Biology and Taxonomy.
 

1992　　      　  Ph.D. University of Oldenburg
1992－1995　   Postdoctoral fellow, Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel
1995－2017       Professor, Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg / Professor, University of Hamburg
2017－present  Professor, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt / Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt
 

1992　 Annette-Barthelt Foundation Science Prize
2003－present  Fellow, The Linnean Society
2007　 Top 10 Scientific Discoveries 2007 (Time magazine)
2007     Adventurer of the Year 2007 (National Geographic Society)
2008　 SCAR Medal for excellences in Polar Sciences
2022     Carlo Heip Excellence Award in Marine Biodiversity (IABO)
 

Dr. Brandt has to date participated in (or led) 31 international maritime surveys on research vessels, in the Japan Trench, Aleutian Trench, Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, Puerto Rico Trench and various other deep-sea areas around the world, achieving many research accomplishments. Her research activities and accomplishments focusing on deep-sea organisms in the Southern Ocean have been especially notable, in particular her leadership role in the ANDEEP project, surveys of deep-sea organisms in the Southern Ocean with the participation of approximately 50 scientists from 13 countries. The ANDEEP project conducted three surveys in the Weddell Sea and its vicinity at depths of from 748 to 6,348 meters (ANDEEP I-III), gaining new discoveries from the many specimens collected. For example, 13,046 specimens were collected of isopods, a specialty of Dr. Brandt, which were identified with 674 species. Of these, 89 species were already known at the time, whereas 585 species were recorded in this ocean region for the first time, 87 percent of which were new species endemic to the Southern Ocean. These isopod specimens accounted for 35 percent of the specimens of the superorder Peracarida to which Isopoda belongs. More than 200 species of polychaetes were collected, of which 81 were unknown species. Of the 76 species of Porifera (sponges) collected, 17 were new species and 37 were species recorded in Southern Ocean for the first time. From survey results like these in the ANDEEP project, Dr. Brandt discovered that the biodiversity in the deep seas of Southern Ocean was much greater than had been known up to that time, casting doubt on the prevailing view that the species diversity of deep-sea biota declined going toward the South Pole.

She has also made extensive contributions on fauna in other deep-sea surveys, such as in the Northwest Pacific region (north latitude 30-60 degrees, east longitude 120-180 degrees). In these deep-sea surveys, 1,723 species were collected. Dr. Brandt compiled a catalog of deep-sea fauna in this region, presenting 2,503 distribution records belonging to 503 deep-sea taxonomic groups, in this way providing information on the distribution and species diversity of deep-sea organisms in this sea region. The research conducted by her international teams has expanded our knowledge of deep-sea fauna in the sampled areas by an impressive 6 to 20 times. While this information itself is highly important from the standpoint of biology, its potential value is just as important as a foundation for preservation of biodiversity and for sustainable resource use and development.

The systematics of isopods is a major focus of Dr. Brandt’s research, and the phylogenetic systematics of this group is also taken up in her dissertation. Dr. Brandt comprehensively estimated the phyletic relationships of isopods based on their morphological characters, and on the basis of the obtained relationships, proposed a new classification that classifies Isopoda into seven suborders, namely, Oniscidea, Tainisopidea, Phoratopidea, Cymothoida, Limnoriidea, Valvifera, and Sphaeromatidea. Of these, the suborders Limnoriidea, Tainisopidea, and Phoratopidea are part of a taxonomic group newly named by Dr. Brandt; and since the traditional classification of the latter two suborders as Flabellifera was found to be inappropriate, these are newly made into separate suborders. The family Protognathiidae included in Cymothoida, and families Basserolidae and Schweglerellidae included in the suborder Sphaeromatidea, are taxonomic groups newly named by Dr. Brandt. Among isopods, Dr. Brandt also announced 22 new genera and more than 100 new species. As a result of the phylogenetic analysis by Dr. Brandt, Anthuridea traditionally considered a suborder is reduced to superfamily rank and Epicaridea formerly recognized as a suborder is reduced to two superfamilies within Cymothoida.

One of Dr. Brandt’s very recent papers (published in May 2024) also involves isopod studies. The paper focuses on the isopods collected in an expedition conducted in the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and Japan Trench, using the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) research vessel Hakuho Maru, which deployed bottom trawls equipped with plankton nets. In this survey, a total of 2,656 specimens were collected at 28 locations, of which the family Munnopsidae had the most at 1,123 individuals and four other families each exceeded 100 individuals. Besides gaining new insight into the species diversity of the group in this ocean region, the study showed the effectiveness of using plankton nets on bottom trawls.

For over 35 years, Dr. Brandt has conducted extensive research on deep-sea organisms in the Southern Ocean, North Pacific and other marine regions, with a particular focus on isopods. Her work in systematics and taxonomy has led to numerous significant achievements, making her a deserving recipient of the International Prize for Biology.
 

1.    Brandt, A., Chen, C., Tandberg, A. H. S., Miguez-Salas, O. and Sigwart, J. D. (2023) Complex sublinear burrows in the deep sea may be constructed by amphipods. Ecology and Evolution, 13: e9867. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9867
2.    Cordier, T., Angeles, I.B., Henry, N., Lejzerowicz, F., Berney, C., Morard, R., Brandt, A., Cambon-Bonavita, M.-A., GuidiL., Lombard, F., Martinez Arbizu, P., Massana, R., Orejas, C., Poulain, J., Smith, C.R., Wincker, P., Arnaud-Haond, S., Gooday, A.J., de Vargas, C. and Pawlowski, J. (2022) Patterns of eukaryotic diversity from the surface to the deep-ocean sediment. Science Advances, 8: eabj9309. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj9309
3.    Simões, M., Saeedi, H., Cobos, M.E. and Brandt, A. (2021) Conservative climate-matching estimations reveal non-uniform directional shift between depth zones of marine Crustacea fauna. Climatic Change, 168: 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03240-8
4.    Colaço, A., Brandt, A., Hilario, A., Lourenço, N., Narayanaswamy, B.E., Priede, I.G., Tuhumwire, J.T., Vecchione, M. and Watanabe, H. (2021) Chapter 7O: Ridges, plateaux and trenches. In: World Ocean Assessment II, vol. I, United Nations, pp. 495–512
5.    Brix, S., Held, C., Kaiser, S., Jennings, R.M., Driskell, A. and Brandt, A. (2021) Evolution and phylogeny of the deep-sea isopod families Desmosomatidae Sars, 1897 and Nannoniscidae Hansen, 1916 (Isopoda: Asellota). Organisms Diversity and Evolution, 21: 691–717.
6.    Riehl, T., Wölfl, A.-C., Augustin, N., Devey, C.W. and Brandt, A. (2020) Discovery of widely available abyssal rock patches reveals overlooked habitat type and prompts rethinking deep-sea biodiversity. PNAS, 117: 15450–15459. www.pnas.org/.cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1920706117; https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1920706117/-/DCSupplemental
7.    Ingels, J., Aronson, R., Smith, C., Baco, A., Bik, H., Blake, J., Brandt, A., Cape, M., DeMaster, D., Dolan, E., Domack, E., Fire, S., Geisz, H., Gigliotti, M., Griffiths, H., Halanych, K., Havermans, C., Huettmann, F., Ishman, S., Kranz, S., Leventer, A., Mahon, A., McClintock, J., McCormick, M., Mitchell, B., Murray, A., Peck, L., Rogers, Alex; R., Shoplock, B., Smith, K., Steffel, B., Stukel, M., Sweetman, A., Taylor, M., Thurber, A., Truffer, M., Van de Putte, A., Vanreusel, A. and Zamora-Duran, M. (2020) Antarctic ecosystem responses following ice-shelf collapse and iceberg calving: science review and future research. WIREs Climate Change, 12: 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.682
8.    Di Franco, D., Linse, K, Griffiths, H.J., Haas, C., Saeedi, H. and Brandt, A. (2020) Abundance and distributional patterns of benthic peracarid crustaceans from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean and Weddell Sea. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7: 554663. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.554663
9.    Brandt, A., Brix, S., Malyutina, M.V. and Riehl, T. (eds.) (2020) Biodiversity and biogeography of the abyssal and hadal Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and adjacent NW Pacific deep-sea regions. (KuramBio II Volume) Progress in Oceanography. 672 pages, 49 articles.
10.    Saeedi, H. and Brandt, A. (2020) Biogeographic atlas of the deep NW Pacific fauna. Advanced books. Pensoft Publisher; Sofia, Bulgaria; appr. 528 pages. https://ab.pensoft.net/book/51315/
11.    Saeedi, H., Simões, M. and Brandt, A. (2020) Biodiversity and distribution patterns of deep-sea fauna along the temperate NW Pacific. Progress in Oceanography, 183: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102296
12.    Saeedi, H., Costello, M.J., Warren, D. and Brandt, A. (2019) Latitudinal and bathymetrical species richness in the NW Pacific and Arctic Ocean. Nature Scientific Reports, 2019; 9:9303, 1–10.| https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45813-9
13.    Saeedi, H., Simões, M. and Brandt, A. (2019) Endemicity and community composition of marine species along the NW Pacific and adjacent Arctic Ocean. Progress in Oceanography, 178: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102199
14.    Brandt, A., Alalykina, I., Brix, S., Brenke, N., Błażewicz, M., Golovan, O., Heitland, N., Hrinko, A.M., Jażdżewska, A.M., Jeskulke, K., Kamenev, G., Lavrenteva, A., Malyutina, M., Riehl, T. and Lins, L. (2019) Depth zonation of Northwest Pacific deep-sea macrofauna. Progress in Oceanography, 176: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102131
15.    Bober S., Riehl T., Henne S. and Brandt, A. (2018) New Macrostylidae (Crustacea, Isopoda) from the abyssal Northwest Pacific Basin described by means of integrative taxonomy with a reference to geographic barriers in the abyssal deep sea. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 182: 549–603. https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/182/3/549/4604647
16.    Kennicutt II, M. C., Chown, S. L., Cassano, J. J., Liggett, D., Massom, R., Peck, L. S., Rintoul, S. R., Storey, J., W. V., Vaughn, D. G.,Wilson, T. J., Sutherland, W. J., Allison, I., Ayton, J., Badhe, R., Baeseman, J., Barrett, P. J., Bell, R. E., Bertler, N., Bo, S., Brandt, A., Bromwich, D., Cary, C., Clark, M. S., Convey, P., Costa, E. S., Cowan, D., DeConto, R., Dunbar, R., Elfring, C., Escutia, C., Francis, J., Fricker, H. A., Fukuchi, M., Gilbert, N., Gutt, J., Havermans, C., Hik, D., Hosie, G., Jones, C., Kim, Y., Le Maho, Y., Lee, S., Leppe, M., Leichenkova, G., Li, X., Lipenkov, V., Lochte, K., López-Martínez, J., Lüdecke, C., Lyons, W. B., Marenssi, S., Miller, H., Morozova, P., Naish, T., Nayak, S., Ravindra, R., Retamales, J., Ricci, C. A., Rogan-Finnemore, M., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Samah, A. A., Sanson, L., Scambos, T., Schloss, I., Shiraishia, K., Siegert, M. A., Simões, J., Sparrow, M. D., Storey, B., Wall, D. H., Walsh, J. C., Wilson, G., Winter, J.-G., Xavier, J. C. and Yang, H. (2014) Six priorities for Antarctic science (and supplementary information). Nature, 512: 23–25. doi:10.1038/512023a (all scientists are co-signatories in this COMMENT paper).
17.    Connolly, S.R., MacNeil, M.A., Caley, M.J., Knowlton, N., Cripps, E., Hisano, M., Thibaut, L.M., Bhattacharya, B.D., Benedetti-Cecchi, L., Brainard, R.E., Brandt, A., Bulleri, F., Ellingsen, K.E., Kaiser, S., Kröncke, I., Linse, K., Maggi, E., O’Hara, T.D., Plaisance, L., Poore, G.C.B, Sarkar, S.K., Satpathy, K.K., Schückel, U., Williams, A. and Wilson, R.S. (2014) Commonness and rarity in the marine biosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111: 8524–8529. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1406664111
18.    Constable, A.J., Melbourne-Thomas, J., Corney, S.P., Arrigo, K.R., Barbraud, C., Barnes, D.K.A., Bindoff, N.L., Boyd, P.W., Brandt, A., Costa, D.P., Davidson, A.T., Ducklow, H.W., Emmerson, L., Fukuchi, M., Gutt, J., Hindell, M.A., Hofman, H.E., Hosie, G.W., Iida, T., Jacob, S., Johnston, N.M., Kawaguchi, S., Koubbi, P., Lea, M.-A., Makhado, A., Massom, R.A., Meiners, K., Meredith, M.P., Murphy, E.J., Nicol, S., Richerson, K., Riddle, M.J., Rintoul, S.R., Smith Jr., W.O., Southwell, C., Stark, J.S., Sumner, M., Swadling, K.M., Takahashi, K.T., Trathan, P.N., Welsford, D.C., Weimerskirch, H., Westwood, K.J., Wienecke, B.C., Wolf-Gladrow, D., Wright, S.W., Xavier, J.C. and Ziegler, P. (2014) Climate change and Southern Ocean ecosystems I: How changes in physical habitats directly affect marine biota. Global Change Biology, 20: 1–22. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12623
19.    Brandt, A., Gooday, A.J., Brix, S.B., Brökeland, W., Cedhagen, T., Choudhury, M., Cornelius, N., Danis, B., De Mesel, I., Diaz, R.J., Gillan, D.C., Ebbe, B., Howe, J., Janussen D., Kaiser, S., Linse, K., Malyutina, M., Brandao, S., Pawlowski, J. and Raupach, M. (2007) The Southern Ocean deep sea: first insights into biodiversity and biogeography. Nature, 447: 307–311.
20.    Brandt, A. and Poore, G. (2003) Higher classification of flabelliferan and related Isopoda based on a reappraisal of relationships. Invertebrate Systematics, 17: 893–923.