- born 15 April 1965 in Herford, Germany, married, one son
- Study of oceanography at the Christian-Albrecht-University, Kiel (1984-1986)
- Study of physics at the Christian-Albrecht-University, Kiel (1986-1991)
- Master thesis in the research group for extraterrestrial physics at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Nuclear Physics, Christian-Albrecht-University, Kiel (1990-1991)
- Ph.D. student at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Dec 1991-Jan1997)
- Doctors degree in meteorology at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg (April 1997)
- Habilitation in meteorology at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg (April 2018)
- Research scientist in the research group for extraterrestria physics at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Nuclear Physics, Christian Albrecht University, Kiel (IFKKI) (June 1991-Sep.1991)
- Research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Feb.1997-Feb.2000)
- Research scientist at the Institute of Anorganic and Applied Chemistry, University Hamburg (March 2000-Feb, 2001)
- Research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (since March 2001)
- Group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (since August 2018)