Team

We love the forest - The team of Wohllebens Waldakademie consists of experienced foresters, geographers, ecologists and nature educators.

Johanna Wohlleben

Managing Director

Johanna has been working at the Waldakademie since 2019 and has been the managing director since 2021. Her core areas are event management, team leadership and strategic management. She always has an open ear and ensures in the background that our guests have unforgettable days at the Waldakademie. Thanks to her open, fair, creative and caring vein, we all feel very comfortable here at the Waldakademie.

Patrick Esser

Conservation and Landscape Ecologist

Patrick is a lecturer for our seminars and events and feels especially at home in the topic "Forest in Climate Change". As the expert supervisor of our UrwaldProjekt, he is very happy to answer any open questions about this wonderful project. Patrick is very meticulous, open and enthusiastic in his work. In his private life he loves his garden (Eden), his friends and delicious food.

Tobias Wohlleben

Managing Director & Owner

Tobias has been the managing director and owner of the Waldakademie since 2018 and is responsible for the political work. He is also the innovator in the company, responsible for making us paperless, among other things. As far as forest policy is concerned, he is not easy to criticize - he knows almost every study and can get into any topic. Tobias is open, fair, cheerful and relaxed.

Sandra Doetsch

Customer service

Sandra is your first point of contact when you contact the Waldakademie by phone, in writing or in person. She is looking forward to you, your questions and your interest in our work and tries to help you with her relaxed manner with any inquiries. She enriches our team since December 2022.

Nina Schug

Customer service

Nina ist seit Juni 2024 als Kundenberaterin eure erste Anlaufstelle bei Fragen und sonstigen Anliegen rund um unsere Seminare, Events, Online-Kurse und das UrwaldProjekt. Nina ist ein echtes Eifel-Mädche, das ihren Garten über alles liebt und für ihren trockenen Humor bekannt ist. Sie ist sehr empathisch und lösungsorientiert.

Celine Winters

Content Producer

Celine is an enthusiastic nature videographer. At our company, she takes care of structuring, shooting and editing our online courses, YouTube videos and organizing our social media channels. Celine is structured, cheerful, easy-going, open-minded and optimistic. In her private life, she loves traveling with her converted van, is passionate about nature and sports.

Sabine Schmidt

Power woman

Sabine is the turbo in person. She takes care of the physical well-being of the seminar participants at the Waldakademie, accompanies seminars, researches and formulates posts for Instagram, makes sure that our garden always looks beautiful and well-kept, and impresses us every day with her incredible energy. Sabine loves the fascinating world of insects and puts us all in her pocket with her knowledge. She loves being outside, listening to music, reading and surprising us all with little treats.

Jonas Weinand

Biologist & Geographer (M.Ed.)

Jonas joined the events team in spring 2023. He is a passionate nature lover and environmentalist with a keen interest in research. He is particularly passionate about the fascinating world of birds, the diversity of plant life, and the ecological and climatic relationships in forests. He is also interested in protected areas at home and abroad and is committed to intact ecosystems and species conservation. Jonas shares his knowledge and passion to promote awareness of intact ecosystems.

Peter Wohlleben

Forester & Author

Peter is also part of the team of lecturers and shares his knowledge in various events. Together with Josef he leads our forestry seminars, guides you through a "fireside chat" or a practical training as part of the forest guide training. Peter is always positive, euphoric and enthusiastic. In his free time he enjoys cycling, spending time with his family and eating a (vegan) burger (with fries).

Sabine Henninghaus

Barista im Waldcafé Blattwerk

Sabine begrüßt euch seit März 2024 im neuen Waldcafé Blattwerk auf dem Waldakademie Campus. Sabine ist eine ganz wunderbar herzliche Person, die ein Gespür für Ästhetik, Details und die Positiven Dinge im Leben hat. Sabine ist ein wahres Energiebündel und enorm begeisterungsfähig!

Stephanie Janßen

Barista im Waldcafé Blattwerk

Stephanie ist seit Juli 2024 im Waldcafé Blattwerk tätig und strotzt vor Energie und Motivation. Stephanie ist offen, herzlich und engagiert und verbringt Ihre Zeit gerne draußen in der Natur beim Spazieren mit Ihrem Hund.

Jan Kaufmann

Dozent

Jan verstärkt seit Februar 2024 das Team der Waldakademie. Neben seiner Expertise als Förster hat er eine Leidenschaft für das Sammeln von Wildkräutern.

Moni Six

Online Marketing Manager

Moni takes care of online marketing for us. She makes sure that the message of the Waldakademie is carried into the world and is super precise, structured and fast. Together with her dog Gloria she enriches our team since January 2023.

Josef Eichler

Forester

Josef studied forestry engineering and spends most of his time as a lecturer at our seminars and events. In addition to his work as a lecturer, he looks after the Wershofen community forest and provides advice to communities, companies and private forest owners. With his Bavarian charm and fatherly composure, he wins everyone over in no time.

Celina Gertz

Environmental Bioscientist (B.Sc.)

Celina and her dog Nala have enriched the team of the Waldakademie since spring 2023. She is passionate about critically examining content and loves all work that requires creativity. She is inquisitive, thoughtful, loves learning in and from nature every day, and puts her heart into it. Celina quickly enjoys the little things that nature offers us and is grateful to be able to carry the message of the Waldakademie to the outside world.

Dr. Dorothee Killmann

Dozentin

Doro lehrt in der Waldakademie, gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann Burkhard, im Rahmen der Waldwoche und des Kurses "Botanische Artenvielfalt" die Pflanzenbestimmung – hier ist sie absolute Expertin und teilt ihr wertvolles Wissen darüber hinaus an der Universität Koblenz mit Studierenden. Ihre Leidenschaft für Flechten und Moose teilt sie im vierstündigen Seminar "Die faszinierende Welt der Flechten und Moose". Diese Leidenschaft sorgt dafür, dass ein Spaziergang über einen Kilometer gut und gerne 2-3 Stunden dauern kann, da es überall etwas spannendes zu entdecken gibt. Doro sprüht vor Energie, Begeisterung und Entschlossenheit.

Burkhard Leh

Dozent

Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Doro lehrt Burkhard, liebevoll "Burki" genannt, die Module zur Pflanzenbestimmung. Darüber hinaus hat er sich intensiv mit dem Wald- und Naturschutzrecht vertraut gemacht und setzt sich leidenschaftlich für den Erhalt von Wäldern ein. Burkhard trinkt seinen Kaffee am liebsten schlicht schwarz und ist neben seinem umfassenden Wissen für seine exzellenten Kochkünste bekannt.

Rainer Harf

Forest guide & biologist

Rainer has a degree in biology and works as an editor for the GEO Group magazines, where he published the magazine "Wohllebens Welt" together with Peter. He enthusiastically completed the forest guide training with us and now infects others with his love for plants, animals and mushrooms as a nature guide. His heart also beats for graphics of all kinds - his artistic spectrum ranges from 3D visualizations to naturalistic drawings. Among other things, he created the illustrations for our Forest Protection Cup 2022.

Nala

Office dog

Bürohündin

Glori

Office dog

Bürohündin

Become a part of the team

Do you want to work for the forest and nature? Are you looking for a job with meaning? Then take a look at our vacancies.

Job offers

Our mission statement

Understand.

We give you answers to your questions, we educate.

Experience.

We take you into the forest.

Enjoy.

Discover your enthusiasm for nature and the forest.

Whether forest guide training, hike, workshop, outdoor event or seminar: our activities aim to pass on our know-how to as many people as possible. In the end, it is not only nature that benefits from this, but also the people who have asked, marveled and understood. Our premise is that education must be accessible to everyone - and understandable. Since we can only pick up a limited number of people through our events, we are also active on social networks. Here we explain complex relationships and exciting facts about forests - in simple terms and accessible to everyone.

Our range of events is becoming more and more colorful, and to keep it that way, we regularly bring in experts to join our team. To ensure that we remain THE experts in our field, we constantly keep abreast of the latest scientific findings and engage in regular exchange and discourse with colleges, universities and other research institutions.

Our UrwaldProjekt is accessible, simple and understandable for both corporate and private customers. Environmental protection thus becomes tangible and tangible for everyone.

Our vision is that significantly fewer animal products will be consumed in Germany and that the agricultural land thus freed up will be converted into forest. Of the larger forest area, 30 % should be placed under protection. The other 70 % is to be consistently managed ecologically. Forests taken out of timber use can develop into high-quality, species-rich habitats that are particularly valuable in combating climate change.

Our goal is to get people excited about the topic of forests, to create love and understanding for it. Environmental protection is fun - we show how!

We want to be the first point of contact for citizens, organizations and companies when it comes to forests. Our know-how and our educational work should contribute to a sustainable change in the environmental awareness of citizens, politicians and companies.

In doing so, we always remain authentic, service-oriented and impressively fast. Our innovative spirit and flexibility as well as the respectful cooperation, both in the team and in the exchange with customers, are also among our strengths. We see ourselves as a unit, enjoy flat hierarchies, are appreciative and always reflective. We love the forest, our work, are motivated, enthusiastic and have a lot of fun doing what we do. Respectful and appreciative treatment of our fellow human beings is a matter of course for us. There is no room for discrimination and exclusion. Rights, such as the right to physical integrity and a self-determined life, do not end for us at the species boundary, but we are committed to their universal application for all living beings.

Our instructors and lecturers

Elli Radinger

Wolf researcher

Elli Radinger is the wolf expert in Germany. She has already taken part in wolf research in Yellowstone National Park and has written many bestsellers about it.

Otmar Diez

Mycologist

Otmar Diez is a passionate mushroom expert. In our mushroom courses he will show you which mushrooms you can eat without hesitation and which you should keep your hands off.

Patrick Thomas

Forester

Patrick Thomas completed his forestry studies at the University of Freiburg in 1996 and has been providing forestry services with his saddle horses since 2001. In addition to forestry work, he also uses his horses in his own agricultural sideline business.

Christian Eppinger

State-certified specialist agriculturalist Tree care and tree restoration

Christian is the number one contact person when it comes to tree care. In his courses he explains how to give "first aid", which tree care measures are available and how to implement them correctly.

Melanie Gödde-Rieken

Herbal expert

Dieter Plaßmeyer

Shinrin-Yoku expert

Dieter Plaßmeyer is a certified Shinrin-Yoku coach, resilience trainer and trainer for multimodal stress management. He completed the forest guide training at Wohlleben's Forest Academy and is looking forward to taking forest baths with you!

Robin Winters

Biologe und Fotograf

Farina Graßmann

Expertin für Totholz & Amphibien

Sonja Medwedski

Geographin & Bodenwissenschaftlerin

Uwe Friedrich

Waldführer

Verfolge unsere Aktivitäten auf Youtube

Wenn du mehr über die Arbeit und das Team der Waldakademie erfahren möchtest, schaue doch gerne einmal bei YouTube vorbei. Hier veröffentlichen wir regelmäßig neu Videos rund um den Wald und die Waldakademie.

Zum YouTube-Kanal

Our premises

Impressions