About me
After studying biology at the Universities of Hamburg and Freiburg i. Br.., I worked at the former Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology (Seewiesen, GDR) – initially as a graduate student and PhD candidate, and subsequently as a research assistant. In 1988, I was appointed Professor of Zoology at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). From 2005 to 2009, I was Director of the former Zoological Institute; from 2010 until my retirement of the newly founded Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, and from 2008 to 2009 I also chaired the Department of Biology
During my academic career, I served on various national and international committees and editorial boards of specialist journals; for a time, I was co-editor Ethology as well as Vice-President and President of the Ethological Society (1987–1992). I initiated and led two German-American summer schools (1995 & 1996) and was co-organiser of several events during the Darwinyear 2009. During three sabbaticals, I stayed as a visiting professor at Cornell University (1984/85), the University of British Columbia (1995/96) and the University of Edinburgh (2002/03)
My leisure activities include travelling, photography, videography and reading, particularly about foreign cultures and past research expeditions.