Dr. Gesa Schönberger
Managing Director

Personal Assistant:

Rebekka Riehl
rebekka.riehl@h-its.org
Phone +49 6221 – 533 246

Gesa Schönberger was appointed managing director of HITS gGmbH on 1 January 2016.

Gesa Schönberger (b. 1968) studied nutritional sciences and home economics (ecotrophology) at the University of Giessen. In 1997, after completing her studies, she joined the staff of the Rainer Wild Foundation, Heidelberg (a foundation promoting healthy nutrition), first as a grant recipient and member of the scientific team, later (1999) as scientific director. At the same time she worked on a dissertation on the connections between nutrition and the amount of harmful substances in the blood, receiving her doctorate at the University of Giessen in 2003. In 2005 she took over as managing director of the Rainer Wild Foundation, retaining her post as scientific director. In this dual capacity she initiated and masterminded various book and media projects, took on an adjunct professorship and informed the public about healthy nutrition in various talks, panel discussions and columns. She was also active in a number of professional bodies.

Honorary posts and other activities

• Member of the “Kuratorium der Wissenschaftspressekonferenz”, [the German Science Journalists´ Association] since 2017
• Member of the managing board of the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Berlin [Federal Association of German Foundations] 2011 – 2016
• Head of the Forum Gesundheitsstiftungen [Health Foundations Forum] within the Federal Association 2009 – 2015
• Member of the Advisory Council of the Federal Association 2010 – 2011
  Executive director of the Internationaler Arbeitskreis für Kulturforschung des Essens [International Workgroup for Cultural Research on Eating] 2008 – 2014 (run by the Dr. Rainer Wild Foundation
• Member of the Beirat des Berufsverbandes Oecotrophologie e. V. [Advisory Council of the Federal Association of Ecotrophologists]  2007 – 201
• Member of the Beirat der Ernährungs- und Verpflegungsoffensive, Der Paritätische, [Advisory Council of the Food and Catering Initiative by the “Der Paritätische” Association] 2012 – 201
• Co-chair of the “Healthy Nutrition” project in the framework of the Baden-Württemberg Sustainability Strategy 2007 – 2008 (with MD Jürgen Maier, Ministry for the Rural Area, Consumer Protection, and Nutrition, Baden-Württemberg)
  

Selected Publications

• Was der Mensch essen darf. Ökonomischer Zwang, ökologisches Gewissen und globale Konflikte
• [Safe Eating. Economic Constraints, Ecological Conscience, Global Conflicts, co-editor with Gunther Hirschfelder, Angelika Ploeger, and Jana Rückert-John, Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2015 (German only)
• Die Zukunft auf dem Tisch. Analysen, Trends und Perspektiven der Ernährung von morge
• [The Future on the Table. Analyses, Trends, Perspectives for Tomorrow’s Nutrition, co-editor with Angelika Ploeger and Gunther Hirschfelder, VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011 (German only)
• Mahlzeiten. Alte Last oder neue Lust?
• [Meals. Old Burdens or New Pleasures?, co-editor with Barbara Methfessel, VS, Wiesbaden 2009 (German only)
• Purer Genuss? Wasser als Getränk, Ware und Kulturgut
• [Pure Enjoyment? Water as a Beverage, Commodity, and Cultural Factor, co-editor with Gunther Hirschfelder, Angelika Ploeger, and Volker Pudel, Campus, Frankfurt a. M. 2009 (German only
• Nachhaltigkeit und Ernährung. Produktion – Handel – Konsum
• [Sustainability and Nutrition. Production – Trade – Consumerism, co-editor with Karl-Michael Brunner, Campus, Frankfurt a.M 2005 (German only)]