Curriculum
Research interests
Plant-animal interactions, multitrophic interactions, agroecology, animal ecology, plant ecology, biodiversity monitoring, optical and eDNA-based sensor technologies in biodiversity monitoring, conservation ecology, biological control via landscape and cropping systems management.
Current positions
since 2021
Head of the Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm) at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), Bonn & Hamburg;
Deputy Director General LIB Bonnsince 2020
Professor (W3) of Biodiversity Monitoring at the University of Bonn
Reviews, consultancy work, board roles and memberships
- since 2020: Data Editor for Ecology Letters
- Recommender for PCI Ecology (Peer Community in Ecology)
- 2011–2015: Member of the Executive Board of the Centre for Statistics at the University of Göttingen
- 2011–2015: Board member of the DFG Research Training Group ‘Scaling Problems in Statistics’
- Reviewer for Nature, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Communications, PNAS, Ecology Letters, Ecology, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series B, Journal of Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Oecologia, Basic and Applied Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Ecological Indicators, Plant Ecology, Progress in Botany, Journal of Applied Entomology, Environmental Entomology, Insect Conservation and Diversity, European Journal of Entomology, European Journal of Forest Research, International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation, Conservation and Society, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
- Reviewing research grant applications for the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Leibniz Association, the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Czech Science Foundation
- since September 2012: Member of the Editorial Board of Ecology Letters
- since 2012: Member of the Ecological Society of America
- since 2005: Member of the British Ecological Society
- since 2011: Member of the German Association of Universities
- since 2001: Former Editor-in-Chief, founding member and editor of www.sciencegarden.de
- 1998–2008: Member of the Bavarian Botanical Society
- since 1992: Member of the German Society for Carnivorous Plants
- Member of the judging panel for ‘Jugend forscht’ (German Contest for Young Scientists)
Academic qualifications
2012
Habilitation at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany (Ecology)
2006
Doctorate Degree (Doctor rer. nat.) from University of Jena, Germany
(Ecology, summa cum laude)2002
Diploma thesis written at Imperial College London, Silwood Park, United Kingdom (Biology); Diploma degree from the University of Rostock (Diploma in Biology)
Careers
since 2021
Head of the Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm) at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), Bonn & Hamburg,
Deputy Director General LIB Bonnsince 2020
Full Professor of Biodiversity Monitoring at the University of Bonn
2015–2020
Professor of Animal Ecology, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Germany
2012–2015
Senior Researcher at Agroecology group, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Göttingen, Germany
2006–2012
Postdoctoral Researcher at Agroecology group, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Göttingen, Germany
Awards
- 2017: FACULTY of 1000 Ecology Letters paper selected for the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine; see here
- 2013: FACULTY of 1000 Ecology and Evolution paper selected for the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine
- 2012: FACULTY of 1000 Biological Reviews paper selected for the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine
- 2012: FACULTY of 1000 Nature Climate Change paper selected for the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine
- 2011: Best Young Publication Award by the Foundation Board of the University of Göttingen (23 Nov 2011)
- 2010: FACULTY of 1000 Nature paper selected for the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine
- 2008: Invited participant of GAFOS 2008, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (German-American Frontiers of Science Symposium)
- 2007: Horst-Wiehe-Award 2007 of the Ecological Society of Germany, Switzerland and Austria
- 2005: Sanofi-Aventis Nationwide Science Journalism Award 2005 (online section), topic: Molecular Medicine
- 2003: Participated in the German Student Prize – ‘Tempo! – The Accelerated World’
- 2000-2001: Deutscher Studienpreis (German Thesis Award) 2000/2001, Research project on Human facial attractiveness
- 1999-2000: Deutscher Studienpreis (German Thesis Award) 1999/2000, Research project on public perception of genetically modified foods
- 1997: Jugend forscht Bundessieger, Biologie (Nationwide gold medal of the German Young Researchers Contest, biology)
- 1997: Gold medal of the E. F. Blaese Foundation
Fellowships
- 2003-2006: International Max Planck Research School (Chemical Ecology, Jena), member
2003-2006: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation), PhD Scholarship
2002: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation), Foreign exchange scholarship
2001-2006: E-Fellows.net Career Network Scholarship
1999-2002: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation), Scholarship for Undergraduates