Vreni Häussermann studies the marine life of Chilean Patagonia focusing mainly on benthic invertebrates. In 1998, she discovered cold-water coral banks in shallow water of the north Patagonian fjords, a topic she has been studying since then including coral taxonomy, ecology, and life history. Her ongoing Fondecyt project deals with the reproduction of the stony coral Desmophyllum dianthus. She also works on a biogeographic and a MARXAN analysis for Chilean Patagonia. She led a study on the largest baleen whale mass mortality she discovered in Central Patagonia, which is still ongoing to understand the sei whale population inhabiting the region. 

Dr. Vreni Häussermann completed her PhD in biology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany. During 18 years under her direction, she converted Huinay Scientific Field Station into an international research facility. She authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 18 books chapters, 3 books and more than 150 presentations on scientific meetings. She organized more than SCUBA diving 50 expeditions. She carried out 13 major research projects of which she led eight. She won the PEW marine fellowship, the ROLEX Award for Enterprise and the Wilhelm-Bessel Award (Humboldt Foundation). She participated in 12 documentaries and numerous other media reports and podcasts. 

Vreni Häussermann has a deep knowledge on the marine life of Chilean Patagonia, being the only researcher having carried out expeditions throughout Patagonia and having studied all benthic species. She organized and edited the book “Marine benthic fauna of Chilean Patagonia”, a detailed taxonomic identification guide including nearly 500 species living on the sea bottom. Her research on biogeography, climate change and threats to biodiversity also makes her ideal to increase awareness on the climate and biodiversity crisis we are facing.