My research interest are freshwater benthic algae; their biodiversity, regulation by environmental factors, and algae as biomonitors in lakes and streams. I work with diatoms, but also on other algae. My special interest is the harmonization of methods to make data and results comparable, and I have in this context recently started with DNA barcoding. I am born in Germany and did my university education in Cologne, then moved to Sweden (Uppsala) for work.