Short resume

I studied Marine Environmental Sciences in Oldenburg, Germany. During my studies, I visited various research institutions in Germany and South Korea and soon became interested in the physical side of oceanography. For my diploma thesis, which I wrote at the University of Helsinki, Finland, I ventured for the first time into polar regions and looked at Arctic sea ice.

To get first hand experience in sea ice field work, I then went to Tromsø, Norway. There, I worked at the Norwegian Polar Institute and for the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) International Project Office. I also got the opportunity to participate in two scientific cruises to the Arctic Ocean and worked on sea ice.

In 2006, I was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship to pursue a PhD in physical oceanography at the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey in the UK. Within the ADELIE (Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths & Ecosystems) project, co-led by Prof Karen Heywood and Dr Sally Thorpe, I was looking at near-surface currents near the Antarctic Peninsula. During my time at BAS, I was lucky enough to participate in four cruises to the Southern Ocean.

I received my PhD in July 2010, and in August 2010, I went back to the far north and started as researcher in the ICE-Fluxes project of the Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems at the Norwegian Polar Institute. The project focussed on processes influencing the growth and decay of the Arctic sea ice cover and the roles of the ocean and the atmosphere and is closely linked to the biology flagship in the ICE centre.

In ICE-Fluxes, I divided my time between the physical oceanographers and the sea ice physics group and the large and small-scale processes. In particular, I investigated the heat flux from the Atlantic Water to the sea ice through small-scale mixing and turbulence in the upper ocean and directly under the ice, and looked at the large-scale distribution of sea ice thickness and influencing factors.

In 2014, I joined the Oceanography and Climate group at the Institute of Marine Research as polar oceanographer. Here, I continue to research ocean and sea ice physics and the interactions between the two spheres. In addition, I work closely with biologists and chemists at different institutions in Tromsø and Bergen to investigate linkages between ocean physics and ecosystems in the polar regions (and to learn an awful lot about fish and other critters in the ocean!). I am lucky to get to work again in both hemispheres - in Arctic and Antarctic waters - and as new challenge, I also started exploring the fascinating fjords of northern Norway.

I teach a BSc level course at the University of Tromsø in introductory oceanography and climate science and contribute to various other courses at UiT. As a special challenge, I also teach an intensive course in oceanography at the University Centre of the Westfjords in Iceland for Master students in Coastal and Marine Management.

Besides research and teaching, I have a number of other tasks to keep me busy and entertained (check out my CV if you want to know more). And whenever I am not busy with research or research related activities, I try to spend as much time as possible outside with my dogs, climbing, paddling, cycling, running, skiing, whatever there is to do.

CV as pdf