Our group


Back row, from left to right: James, Lee, Axel, Ryan, Darren, Steffen, Philipp, Susanne, Kerstin, Bjoern, Corina, Kristin
Front row: Eugenio, Fabian, Stan

Group leader:


  • Axel Kleidon, Leader of the Max Planck research group (MPRG) on biospheric theory and modelling.


Post-docs:



PhD Students:


  • Susanne Arens, working on coupling the biotic, climatic and erosive effects on silicate weathering in an earth system model of intermediate complexity.
  • Kristin Bohn, working on implementation of historical and evolutionary processes in a global functional plant diversity model.
  • Corina Buendía, modelling the phosphorus cycle in the terrestrial biosphere.
  • Fabian Gans, entropy of radiation and Earth system limits to renewable energy
  • Lee Miller, large-scale renewable energy extractability and impacts using thermodynamics.
  • Ryan Pavlick, working on modelling biodiversity and understanding its significance for Earth system functioning.
  • Philipp Porada, working on modelling lichen and microbial crusts.


Support and technical staff:


  • Gerhard Boenisch(1), scientific data manager.
  • Corinne Sacher(1), project management.
  • Kerstin Sickel(1), programming.
  • Steffen Richter, programming.
  • Natalia Ungelenk(1), information officer.
  • Birgitta Wiehl(1), departmental secretary.

(1): shared with Markus Reichstein's and Christian Wirth's research groups.

Former members:


  • Jamison Howard, (UMD) Role of rotation rate on the atmospheric circulation and states of Maximum Entropy Production; Spring 2004.
  • Charles Low, (UMD) Multiple stable states of the climate-vegetation system; Fall 2004, Spring 2005.
  • Sameer Patwardhan, (IIT-Bombay) Modelling of optimal stomatal functioning; Summer 2006.
  • Jatin Narula, (IIT-Madras) Modelling effects of vegetation diversity on pattern formation; Summer 2007.
  • Pablo Paiewonsky, M. A. student (UMD); working on optimum vegetation albedo, 2004 - 2007. now in the PhD program in Atmospheric Science at State University of New York at Albany.
  • Philipp Kynast, Hiwi student, visualization and user interfaces.
  • Xiangke Xu, visitng PhD student (CAS, Beijing, China).
  • Andreas Ostrowski, model parameterisation and data handling.
  • Nate Brunsell, visiting Humboldt Research Fellow during sabbatical year from University of Kansas
  • Björn Reu, Ph. D. student working on JeDi from 2007-2011. Now at University of Leipzig
  • Stan Schymanski, now at ETH Zurich