Joachim Blankenburg studied agricultural sciences at the University of Göttingen concluding in 1978 with a diploma thesis on "Model experiments on phosphate release from drained acidic peat bog" supervised by Prof. Herbert Kuntze. He continued these studies at the Lower Saxonian Institute for Soil Technology in Bremen under guidance of Prof. Bernhard Scheffer. In 1983, the University of Göttingen recognized his dissertation on "Investigations on phosphate dynamics of acidic organic soils with regard to a reduction of phosphate release and wetland eutrophication by agricultural and fertilization measures" with a doctoral degree in agricultural sciences (Dr. sc. agr.).

Blankenburg himself became director of the Bremen Soil Science Institute in 1985 and conducted systematic rewetting field experiments of raised and low bogs. Based on these findings, he devised numerous guidelines on ecologically responsible cultivation and drainage of moors. He was involved e.g. in the national "Ecosystem management of boglands" project (BMBF 1991-1998) and the EU project "Guidelines for wetland restoration of peat cutting areas" (BRIDGE-Project, 1999-2001). To spread the knowledge of peatland research, he served over several decades in the German Society for Moor and Peat Research, the German "Landeskulturgesellschaft" and the Bremen Association for the Advancement of Bog Research. In recognition of his scientific merits for the hydrology and renaturation of Lower Saxonian moors, he was awarded the Carl Albert Weber Medal in 2009.

In 2004 the Bremen Soil Institute was transformed into the "Geological Service of Bremen" (GDfB), which became an independent Bremen authority in 2008. Joachim Blankenburg successfully directed this transformation process and established competent staff. A central achievement is a three-dimensional structural model of the Geology of the state of Bremen, which is closely linked with a hydrogeological model. This system offers essential information for groundwater management, shallow geothermal energy exploration, underground engineering, soil protection and nature conservation in Bremen.

Many students profit from the readiness of the GDfB to offer practical, regional individually tailored learning opportunities under highly devoted expert guidance. In the past 12 years, Prof. Blankenburg has been first supervisor of 14 geoscientific thesis projects and second supervisor of another five. 71 student projects and 68 internships were supported by the GDfB. These extraordinary and longstanding merits in geoscience education are honored by our Faculty with the award of an Honorary Professorship.