Vita

Herpetologist by passion and tropical ecologist by training (or vice versa) I have been heading the herpetology section at the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden since 2010. As animal ecologist I am interested in how phylogeny and ecology drive patterns of functional diversity in biological communities and how elucidating underlying processes can guide conservation management decisions. I have been engaged in tropical research, particularly in the Neo- and Afrotropics, for over two decades.

1992/93 Onalaska High-School, WI, USA
Scholarship of the Parlamentarische Patenschafts-Programm (PPP) German Bundestag – US Congress

1997 – 2001 Universities of Mainz, Marburg and Würzburg,
Dipl. Biol. Univ., Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg (chair: Prof. Dr. K.E. Linsenmair)

2002 – 2006 University Würzburg
Dr. rer. nat., Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (supervision: Prof. K.E. Linsenmair, PD M.-O. Rödel University Würzburg & Prof. W. Hödl, University Vienna) – DAAD-Promotionsstipendium

2005 – 2007 Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart,
Scientific intern, Department of Zoology Forschungsmuseum Schloss Rosenstein

2007 – 2010 Technische Universität Berlin
Scientific assistant – Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Biodiversity Dynamics, (chair: Prof. Dr. F. Dziock)

2010 –Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden
Curator – Museum of Zoology, Section Herpetology

2014 Technische Universität Berlin
Habilitation – Fakultät VI, Institute of Ecology, Prof. I. Kowarik
Facultas docendi: Biodiversity Dynamics & Ecosystem Science

2022 Technische Universität Dresden
Privatdozent – School of Science – Faculty of Biology

Honorary positions

Board member Society for Tropical Ecology

International Herpetological Committee (2012 -2016)

Associate Editor Amphibia Reptilia

Associate Editor Ecotropica

Associate Editor Vertebrate Zoology