Working areas

• Geographic information systems (GIS) and other digital technologies in environmental planning
• Spatial environmental analysis and modeling
• Analysis of site potential and spatial suitability analyses
• Digital, interactive tools to support participatory planning processes
• Inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching
• International topics of environmental research (focus on Latin America)
• International exchange in research and teaching (focus on Latin America)

Fields of specialization

• Blue-green infrastructure and nature-based solutions
• Water-sensitive urban design, urban hydrology and ecology
• Sustainable landscape integration of renewable energies
• Remote sensing methods to assess and evaluating ecosystem services
• Landscape metrics and spatial indicators
• Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

• Since 02/2022: Professor of Digital Environmental Planning, Leibniz University Hannover
• 01/2018 – 09/2023: Leader of the inter- und transdisciplinary Junior Research Group „SEE-URBAN-WATER“, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany – since 02/2022  at Leibniz University Hannover
• 03/2018 – 01/2022: Assistant Professor of Ecological Engineering, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany
• 04/2014 – 12/2017: Deputy Head of Section and Post-Doc, Section of Hydrological Engineering and Water Management, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany

• 03/2014: Ph.D. (Doctor of Engineering, Dr.-Ing.) of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, Topic of dissertation: „Payments for Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Integrated Water Resources Management“. Referees: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Ostrowski, Prof. Dr. Bernd Hansjürgens, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Boris Lehmann
• 06/2008 – 04/2014: Research associate, Section of Hydrological Engineering and Water Management, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany
• From 01/2009 – 04/2011 Coordinator of the interdisciplinary major (iSP) "Technology and International Development", Center for interdisciplinary Study Programs, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany
• 03/2008: Diploma in Civil Engineering with Specialization in Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management, Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment, Geotechnics
• 07/2000 – 12/2001: Volunteer in Nicaragua, Zentralamerika
• 06/1997 – 07/1998: Exchange year in Ohio, USA

• International research and teaching stays
   

  • 2019 - 2020: 4 short term lectureships at Escuela Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador, study program „Climate Change“.
  • Lecture topics: Green Infrastructure, Urban Resilience, Urban Hydrology and Ecology.
  • 2018 - 2020: 5 research stays at Universidad Tecnológica La Salle (ULSA) in León, Nicaragua, and Universidad de Costa Rica.
  • Research topics: Nature-based Solutions, blue-green Infrastructure, urban flood resilience, transdisciplinary research in real-world labs.
  • 06/2019: Research stay at the StREAM Lab of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, USA.
  • Research topics: Urban hydrology and ecological engineering for river restoration.
  • 09-10/2018: Guest research stay at the Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Research topic: „Payments for Ecosystem Services“
  • 2015 - 2017: 4 Short term lectureships at Universidad Tecnológica La Salle (ULSA) in León, Nicaragua, study program “Renewable Energies”.
  • Lecture topics: Environmental Technologies, Geoinformation Systems and Integrated Water Resources Management
  • 10-11/2014: Guest lecture "Integrated Water Resources Management and Ecosystem Services" at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of University of Salerno, Italy
  • 02-06/2011: Research stay at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as part of the BMBF-CLIENT project "Eco-Efficiency in the Brazilian Water Sector - Energy Efficiency in Water Supply of Rio de Janeiro"