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