Main Focus
My research interest is focused on understanding the role of plants in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems - from ecophysiology and biodiversity to the representation of plants in the context of Earth-system models. In this context, I am coordinating the TRY initiative, which compiles plant traits from different databases worldwide to make them available for scientific research. The TRY database is a research platform of iDiv - the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research.
Curriculum Vitae
2013 - today Group Leader in the Functional Biogeography Research Group at the MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
2010 - 2012 Senior Scientist in the Department "Biogeochemical Processes" at the MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
2005 - 2010 Scientist in the independent research group "Organismic Biogeochemistry" at the MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
2002 - 2005 Research Associate in the Department "Integration of Biogeochemical Cycles" at the MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
2002 PhD in Biology at the University of Giessen, Germany. Dissertation: "Nitrogen limitation of the CO2 fertilisation effect".