Science | Society | Strategy

I love science, I like to serve society, and I bring a strategic mindset to complex challenges. I'm also an experienced population geographer, migration expert, passionate communicator, policy advisor, creative thinker, and inspiring leader. I’m currently based in Potsdam and Wiesbaden, Germany.

With an academic background in migration and demography, I enjoy perceiving the world in new ways and looking beyond the obvious to solve problems and generate new ideas. In my academic career, I combined scientific research with a passion for data analytics, visualization and communication, providing evidence-based policy advice and helping inform the public about demographic change and migration.

I grew up in Germany, studied geography in Regensburg and Tuebingen, and completed my PhD in geography at the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2010. I then moved to Austria, working at the Vienna Institute of Demography on international migration statistics and population projections until 2016. My next stop was the Netherlands, where I served as Assistant Professor in Population Geography at the University of Groningen. In 2017, I returned to Germany to become Research Director at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).

From October 2024 to March 2025, I took on a new challenge as Head of Department 22 "Non-University Research" at the Ministry of Science, Research, and Culture of the State of Brandenburg. After 18 years in academia, this role offered a great opportunity to transition into science policy and to support non-university research institutes in Brandenburg. In April 2025, I chose to temporarily return to the BiB in Wiesbaden. I'm currently open to new roles and excited for new adventures and opportunities to grow, collaborate, and create impact.