I was born and raised in Germany. I received my Ph.D. in Ecological Economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute under the guidance of Professor John Gowdy. After I finished my Ph.D. I worked as a consultant for project funded by UNEP on the evaluation of the economics, cultural, and ecosystem values of the Sudd, a large wetland in South Sudan. Now I am working as a Postdoc at the Chair for Governance in International Agribusiness, Technical University of Munich.