Dagny Lüdemann

As a child, Dagny dreamed of becoming an animal filmmaker. Today, she is a chief reporter for DIE ZEIT, and she spends her days out in nature shooting documentaries with the video team. She is also an adventurer and diver who loves the sea and occasionally gets covered in leeches in the rainforest. As a reporter, she uncovers what orcas want when they ram sailboats and what lies behind environmental disasters, such as the Oder fish kill. She is also present when medical students explore human anatomy using donated bodies — humans are part of nature; there is no contradiction.

The science journalist feels the happiest when she looks seahorses in the eye in intact seagrass meadows, or when she watches sea turtles hatch as a volunteer at a conservation station in the Caribbean. She loves research trips where she flies over Namibia’s savannas or the Amazon rainforest in a small, rickety plane. Except for that time in Borneo when she had to watch the last natural habitat of the orangutans burn below her from the air.

Dagny studied biology and has become one of Germany’s most renowned science journalists, winning various awards. She led a variety of teams as head of department for ten years. Currently, she is a chief reporter at DIE ZEIT, where she develops new digital storytelling formats, writes reports, and teaches trainees at the Holtzbrinck School. She is constantly searching for untold stories from the depths of forests, seas, and human nature.