Istituto federale di ricerca per la foresta, la neve e il paesaggio WSL

Research Topics

  • Macroecology and Biodiversity
    Understanding and modelling of biodiversity in mountain ecosystems globally
  • Climate impacts
    Impacts of climate on biodiversity, hydrology, and vegetation
  • Climate downscaling
    Development of climate downscaling algorithms and high resolution climate data products

Research Interest

I am a senior researcher at the interface of macroecology, biodiversity research, and climatology. My research focuses on how climate and biodiversity are linked in time and space. A focus of my recent work has been the development of algorithms to downscale climate data to the biologically relevant scales needed for ecological studies. I am currently studying how extreme weather and extreme events, such as megadroughts, affect vegetation and biodiversity. I have also done extensive work on the geography and biodiversity of cloud forest ecosystems in the tropics and the biogeography of tropical islands.

CV

Scientific Positions

since 2021

Senior Researcher, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

2017-2021

Scientific Staff Member, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

2016-2018

Visiting researcher, Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

2015-2017

Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

2013-2015

Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

2009-2013

Ph.D. position, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Education

27.05.2013 Dr. sc. nat. (Ph.D.) , University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
09.09.2009 Diplom (Msc.), University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
2005-2009 Studies in Biology , University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany

Projects

Publications