Since 4/2024. Director of the Senckenberg Institute for Plant Form and Function (SIP) Jena.
Since 01/2024. Vice-president of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ).
Since 01/2023. Director of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, FSU Jena (since 05/25 Institute of Biodiversity, Ecology and Systematics).
Since 09/2013. Professor for Plant Biodiversity, Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena.
Since 2014. Member and PI of the German Centre of Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv)
Since 2019. Member of the science strategy board (SSB) and FlexPool Board of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv)
2019-2022. Member of the scientific advisory board of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung.
Since 2022. Member of the faculty board and the budget and structural commission of the Faculty of Biological Science.
Since 2022. Coordinator of the study program and director of the examination board MSc Evolution, Ecology and Systematics MEES
2015-2022. Equal opportunity officer of the Faculty of Biological Sciences.
10/2011 – 08/2013. Junior Professor for Theoretical Ecology, Institute of Botany, Regensburg University
06/2007 – 09/2011. Scientific researcher and lecturer in the Functional Biogeography Group, Institute of Physical Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt.
11/2002 – 05/2007. Scientific Researcher at the Chair for Botany, Regensburg University.
05/2006. PhD thesis “Patterns and processes of plant species frequency and life-history traits”.
03/2002 – 10/2002. Working contract („Werkvertrag“) in BMBF-project „MOSAIK“.
10/1995 – 05/2002. Biology studies (diploma) Philipps University Marburg (scientific nature conservation, ecology, systematic zoology; Diploma thesis: The effects of historical melon and cereal cultivation on the actual vegetation structure of a dry steppic grassland: the example of the Crau (South-eastern France) (supervisors: Thierry Dutoit, Peter Poschlod).
03/2000 – 08/2000. Training period in the Ecomusée de la Crau, St. Martin de Crau, France; in cooperation with the Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III, France.
08/1999 – 09/1999. Ecological-botanical training period at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Reseach (IGER) in Okehampton, Devon (GB).
10/1998 – 06/1999. 3rd year Bachelor am Imperial College London (Applied Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Evolutionary biology, Population and Community Ecology) (Erasmus-Programm)
05/1995. High-school diploma (Abitur) at Gymnasium Neustadt am Rübenberge.
Publications
A complete list of publications can be found under publications.