1983-1989
Studies in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands
1989-1993
PhD student at Department of Soil Science and Geology, Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands
1993-1996
Postdoctoral researcher at the ‘International Institute of Tropical Forestry, US Forest Service, San Juan, PR, USA; based at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica
1996-1997
Postdoctoral researcher at the ‘Complex Systems Research Centrum’, University of New Hampshire, Durham NH, USA
Since 1997
Professor of Ecopedology of the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen, Germany
Since 1999
Member of the Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University o Göttingen, Germany