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Curriculum vitae

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Birth date and place: 24/06/1960, Lübeck.

Voluntary work 1979 - 1980 in the Kibbuz of Ginegar, Israel.
Voluntary social work 1980-1981 Home for handicapped persons (“Diakonisches Werk Schleswig-Holstein”), Quern, Schleswig-Flensburg district.

Education
1979 Abitur (A-level) „Auguste-Viktoria-Schule“, Flensburg.
1981 – 1988 „Diplom-Biologie“, University of Oldenburg.
1988 Diploma thesis „Accumulation of aluminium, manganese and iron in herbaceous plants of acidic forest communities“.
1993 Dissertation, University of Göttingen. Thesis: „Vegetation and site conditions of Polylepis-forests in the Eastern Cordillera of Bolivia“.

Professional carrier
1988 - 1989 Employment as Biologist at the Mayor de San Simon University of Cochabamba/Bolivia (organized by ICM, Intergovernmental Committee for Migration; scientific work and teaching, establishment of a herbarium for the regional flora of Cochabamba).

1993 - 1994 Research assistant, “Institute for Plant Systematics and Plant Geography”, Free University of Berlin; geobotanical working group.

1994 - 1999 Scientific assistant at the “Institute for Plant Systematics and Plant Geography”, Free University of Berlin; geobotanical working group.

1999 Habilitation (venia legendi for botany), FU Berlin. Subject of the habilitation thesis: „Structure, adaptation, and life strategies in plant communities of arid habitats“.

since 1999 University Professor in Plant Ecology, “Institute of Geobotany
and Botanical Garden”, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg.

since 2010 director of the Institute of Biology and dean of education of the faculty of natural sciences I (Life science)

Expertise activities
1991 - 1993 Freelance advisor for IBL Oldenburg (“Advisory Biologists and
Engineers”; compilation of expert reports).
1992 - 1993 Project evaluation on behalf of the „Deutsche Welthungerhilfe“
(DWHH, german aid against hunger) in Alto Beni and La Paz/Bolivia (compilation of expert reports).

Member of the editorial board of Flora, Hercynia, Feddes Repertorium and Anales de Biología

Referee for American Journal of Botany, Annals of Botany, Applied Vegetation Science, Biodiversity and Conservation, Conservation Genetics, Ecotropica, Flora, Journal of Vegetation Science, Plant Biology, Plant Ecology, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Restoration Ecology

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