Dietmar Quandt was born in Germany in 1972. He studied Biology at the University of Bonn, with an additional year at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, before completing his diploma at the University of Bonn and Freie Universität Berlin under the supervision of Jan-Peter Frahm. He obtained his PhD from the University of Bonn in 2002, graduating summa cum laude, and completed his habilitation at the Institute of Botany, TU Dresden, in 2006.
After postdoctoral positions at the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid and at Virginia Tech in the United States, he became Head of the Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics Laboratory at the Institute of Botany, TU Dresden. In 2008, he was appointed Professor of Plant Phylogenetics and Evolution at the University of Bonn, where he also serves as Head of the Herbarium BONN and, biennially, as Executive Director of the Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants.
His research focuses on plant evolution, phylogenetics and phylogenomics, with a particular emphasis on land plants, bryophytes, molecular evolution, DNA barcoding and biodiversity assessment. His work combines field-based biodiversity studies with modern molecular approaches, including high-throughput sequencing, phylogenetic and population-genetic analyses, and the study of genome evolution and RNA/DNA secondary structures. He has contributed to research projects in many regions of the world, including Ecuador, Chile, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, the Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea.
A major part of his research addresses the evolution and diversity of plants under contrasting environmental conditions. He has been involved in large collaborative projects such as Earth – Evolution at the Dry Limit, which explores the evolution of life in extremely dry environments, as well as projects on tropical biodiversity, DNA barcoding, biological soil crusts and plant adaptation. Since 2004, he has attracted substantial research funding and has supervised numerous PhD, MSc, Diplom and BSc students.
Dietmar Quandt has published extensively on plant systematics, molecular evolution, phylogenomics and biodiversity. His work includes important contributions to studies on the evolution of land plants, hornwort genomes, plastid genome evolution, non-coding DNA, plant-fungal radiations and DNA barcoding. His publications illustrate a broad and integrative approach to plant diversity, from molecules and genomes to ecosystems.
He has also made significant contributions to the international bryological community. He served as President of the International Association of Bryologists and is a former member of the IAB Council. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of Bryophyte Diversity and Evolution, contributing to the development and visibility of the journal. In recognition of his scientific work, he received the Hattori Prize from the IAB for the best bryological publication of the years 2007–2008.
Through his research, teaching, editorial work and service to the IAB, Dietmar Quandt has made an important contribution to modern plant systematics and to the development of molecular approaches in bryology and biodiversity research.
