Thomas Lohrer can absolutely be called a pioneer of digital methods in knowledge transfer. At a time when only about six per cent of the population in Germany owned a smartphone and Spotify, the first major audio streaming service was only just getting off the ground, the horticulturist published his weekly podcast "Plant Protection in Horticulture". Around 140 episodes went online between 2008 and 2011 - and at the European Podcast Awards 2010, the show was voted second in the "Non-Profit" category for Germany. "Around the turn of the millennium, I suggested offering a new elective module on new media in the Horticulture degree programme: How do I research data on the net, how do I take digital photographs, things like that. In this context, I dealt very intensively with new formats and discovered podcasts, among other things," recalls the head of the HSWT's plant protection laboratory and emphasises: "Without the committed, interdepartmental team and the intensive support from the IT department, it would not have been possible to implement the podcast."

Often ahead of his time

Thomas Lohrer not only uses podcasts to impart knowledge, he generally prefers to prepare content in multimedia form - and is often a pioneer in doing so. "From the beginning, it was important to me to make knowledge as effectively retrievable as possible and to prepare it for different types of learners. The more I looked into the various possibilities, the more often I thought to myself, man, you should be able to incorporate this and that - and so it became more and more multimedia," he says. The constant development of technology and the internet did the rest. It all started with a CD with information on fungal diseases of vegetables for students and experts, followed by an online course on pathogens of woody plants, and then the first online courses in a blended learning format for employees in Horticulture.

The target groups were not always immediately open to the new offers; Lohrer and his team did valuable persuasion work. "What a lot of phone calls we made back then to make the advantages of our online courses palatable," Lohrer recalls with a smile. For him, it's clear: "You have to meet people where they are." That also applies to the free online course on plant protection, which Lohrer and his team designed as an OPEN vhb course for the Virtual University of Bavaria and was awarded the Comenius EduMedia Medal last year as a pioneering digital educational medium. For Lohrer, however, the kindest feedback is the one he gets directly from users: "Someone once said to me at a plant protection conference, 'I know that voice of yours'. It turned out that he was a loyal listener to my podcast."

Plant protection as a hobbyhorse

Thomas Lohrer has been employed at the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan since 1994. Initially, he worked at the State Teaching and Research Institute of Horticulture Weihenstephan, which was later integrated into the University of Applied Sciences via the Federal Research Station of Horticulture. One of the things he appreciates here is the freedom that allows him to get a taste of different areas and try out ideas. "Then there's the great team," says the native of Bonn, "in which I'm the only man, by the way."

His hobbyhorse has always been plant protection, and even during his studies in Osnabrück and Hanover, he focused primarily on this area. Early on, he combined this passion with photography and editing texts, which still inspires him today. Over the years, a whole series of specialist books on pests and beneficial insects has been published.

Pests in the virtual world

And in which direction will the new media develop in plant protection? "I think, there will be much more development, especially in diagnosis and knowledge transfer. I can well imagine that in the not-too-distant future, for example, a specialist who has to diagnose a pest infestation will examine the plant with special glasses in augmented or virtual reality. In teaching, blended learning with its various facets is already widespread today, and I think it will continue in this direction."

Beyond work, things are more analogue for Thomas Lohrer, among other things, on the dance floor. With his partner, he has been practising standard dances and more unusual couple dances, such as West Coast Swing, for about five years. "I can't really dance at all. I'm a head person," laughs the 57-year-old. When he's not sweeping the floor himself, he likes to sit in the audience at cabarets, and the Rhinelander has also been enthusiastic about theatre and popular theatre since his early childhood. So there are many things Thomas Lohrer is looking forward to after the end of the current Corona situation - because learning about plant protection on an online platform works well, but dance and theatre need wooden floors.