Undergraduate studies
Universität Kaiserslautern (Germany) and University of Edinburgh (Scotland); 1989-1992. Funded by Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation) and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
Graduate Studies
Ph.D. (Ecology), 1993-1997, University of California Davis/ San Diego State University; advisor: Dr. Michael F. Allen (afterwards at UC Riverside; now retired)
Postdoc
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Plant Biology, Stanford (California), 1998-1999; advisor: Dr. Christopher B. Field (now Director at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
Appointments
- 1999-2005: Assistant Professor, Microbial Ecology, University of Montana
- 2005-2007: Associate Professor (with tenure), Microbial Ecology, University of Montana
- 2007-2008: Professor (W2), Plant Ecology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- 2008- Professor (W3), Plant Ecology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- 2013- Director, Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)
Editorial service
- Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment (2021-)
- Editor-in-Chief, Pedobiologia (2004-2014)
- Editor, Ecology, Ecological Monographs (2008-2021)
- Editor, PLoS One (2011-2015)
Selected honors
- 2022 Elected member, Academia Europaea – the Academy of Europe
- 2021 Elected member, German National Academy of Sciences – Leopoldina
- 2019 Elected fellow, Ecological Society of America
- 2017- 2022 Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Analytics)
- 2015 ERC Advanced Grant
Publications
- See publication list on this website
- ResearcherID
- Google scholar page
- ResearchGate
- ORCID


