The majority of wild bees nests below ground and spends most of their life in the soil. They are potentially vulnerable to agricultural practices implying soil disturbance, such as tillage.

I am interested in the ecology of ground-nesting bees in agricultural landscapes. Further, I work at the science-policy interface intersecting biodiversity research and practice. A conceptual approach on how to bridge the science-practice gap can be leaned from medicine. In medicine, evidence-based practice has revolutionized clinical practice by systematically synthesizing the available scientific evidence. I work on conceptual and methodological improvements in evidence-based conservation.

I am a professor of Animal Ecology at the University of Marburg. I am further co-leading the BMBF-funded socio-ecological research group BEATLE, a cooperation with the University of Hohenheim.