Climate change effects, biodiversity and ecological interactions within North Sea groundfish communities
Ecosystem approach to fisheries management: Development of indicators for ecosystem state and ecological functions
Planning of fisheries research surveys; cruise leader
Assignments
Towards a Joint Monitoring Programme for the North Sea and Celtic Sea (JMP NS/CS)
EU-Project: Preparatory Action on Maritime Spatial Planning in the North East Atlantic/North Sea/Channel Area (MASPNOSE)
Natura 2000 - Proposals for fisheries management measures in Natura 2000 sites in the German EEZ in the North Sea and Baltic Sea
Oceanography & climate: Monitoring of physical oceanographic parameters for the assessment of climatic influences on fish stocks in the North Sea Atlantic and North Atlantic
Population dynamics and assessment of demersal fish stocks in the North Sea and North Atlantic
Contributions to Advisory Committees of the European Union (STECF) and ICES committees
Biological investigations on biodiversity, species protection and the rational use of living marine resources
Investigations on fish assemblages in small defined areas in the North Sea to assess the anthropogenic influence on marine ecosystems (e.g. offshore windfarms)
MSFD - Implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework directive – Definition and validation of indicators and initial assessment
since 2005: Scientist at the Thünen-Institute of Sea Fisheries (TI)
2002 – 2005: Scientist at the Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries, Hamburg University.Zooplankton ecology. Method development: „Video Plankton Recorder“ for in situ analyses of plankton distributions
2001 – 2002: Oceanography Faculty and Chief Scientist for a ‘Semester at Sea’ at the Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, USA (www.sea.edu).
1999, 2000 – 2001: PostDoc, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA.U.S. GLOBEC N.W. Atlantic/Georges Bank Program. Zooplankon ecology: Shipboard and laboratory experiments on predation; functional responses of feeding rates
1999 – 2000: PostDoc, Kristineberg Marine Research Station (Gothenburg University and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), Sweden. Zooplankton feeding ecology and behaviour
1996 – 1999: PostDoc, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Fellowships through the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD and the Seaver Foundation. Zooplankton behavior and physiology; adaptation to extreme environments in deep-sea copepods
1992 – 1996: PhD research at the University of Technology Dresden; PhD thesis. Zooplankton predator-prey interactions; population dynamics; vertical migration behaviour; morphological defences against predation; physiological adaptation to low-oxygen environments
1990 – 1992: Scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Limnology in Plön
1989 – 1990: Masters thesis (Diplomarbeit) at the MPI in Plön, funded through the Max-Planck-Society
1984 – 1989: Studies at the University of Kaiserslautern and the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel.