”The primary objective of my research is to gain a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the impact of atmospheric and edaphic drought on eco-physiological processes in crops as well as in trees. In this context, I especially aim at understanding the functionality of soil and plant hydraulic traits for improved water use under drought in various agro-ecological environments. Relevant traits include aboveground (e.g., plant canopy architecture, stomatal morphological properties) as well as belowground (e.g., root architecture and anatomy, root hairs and exudation, mycorrhization, soil hydraulic properties) properties and processes.

I received my Ph.D. degree from the ETH Zurich in the group of Physics of Soils and Terrestrial Ecosystems (title of thesis: Soil and plant properties controlling water use of crops during soil and atmospheric drying). Before that, I obtained my M.Sc. in Global Change Ecology at the University of Bayreuth/ Germany and my B.Sc. in Geography at the Freie Universität Berlin. Currently, I am a Post-Doctoral researcher and Junior Group Leader in the group of Root-Soil Interaction at TU Munich.“