Research Interests

As a biogeochemist, I investigate the sources and drivers of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopes in key compounds (e.g., water, CO2, sugars, starch, cellulose, lignin methoxy groups) to refine reconstructions of past climate and plant functional responses. I have developed novel compound-specific analytical approaches and established advanced plant physiological facilities to address these questions. My current work centers on tracing the origin of water that trees take up from soils and disentangling the combined effects of climate and nitrogen deposition on soil N availability and tree functional responses, using European-scale long-term forest monitoring data integration and modeling.

 Google Scholar // ResearchGate // ORCID // WebofScience

Scientific Career

  • Scientific staff member, Swiss Federal Institute WSL, Soil Biogeochemistry, “Integrating long-term forest monitoring data to trace water and nitrogen dynamics”, 05/2023 - today
  • SNSF-Ambizione Group Leader, Swiss Federal Institute WSL, "Triple isotope analysis of carbohydrates: From assimilates to tree-rings (TreeCarbo)", 05/2019 - 04/2023
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Swiss Federal Institute WSL, "Analysing wood decomposer food-webs using novel stable isotope techniques", 10/2018 - 04/2019
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Swiss Federal Institute WSL, "Oxygen isotope fractionations among plant assimilates", 01/2017 - 10/2018        
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Paul-Scherrer Institute, "Developing new methods for oxygen isotope analysis of sugars", 08/2014 - 12/2016                         
  • Ph.D. (Dr. sc.), ETH Zurich, "Carbon isotopic composition of leaf dark-respired CO2: Influence of different substrates and environmental drivers", 02/2011 - 07/2014  
  • Diplom (eq. M. sc.) Molecularbiology, Saarland University, "Characterization of genetic factors in the network of metal homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana", 04/2004 - 09/2010    

Projekte

Publikationen