I am an ecologist focusing on soil biogeochemisty,

on the role of microbes in soil organic matter production, stabilization and turnover, how microbes influence soil carbon storage and nutrient availability and how they interact, compete or collaborate with plants 'belowground' - in the rhizosphere.

​

One of my major interests is to investigate, how predicted and current climatic changes affect soil microbial communities, their activity and physiology by analyzing carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus turnover. 

Currently, I am investigating agricultural sites, and a multifactorial climate change experiment in Austria,

I am studying warmed grasslands in Iceland, and tropical rainforest soil North and Central Amazonia in South America.