W3 professor in plant sciences

 Academic degrees

• Ph.D. in Biology (Botany), 21 May 2001, K.U.Leuven (Belgium)
• Teaching Certificate in Biology, July 1995, K.U.Leuven (Belgium)
• Master in Biology, July 1994, K.U.Leuven (Belgium)

Research interests

• Comparative wood anatomy: phylogenetic, ecological and functional xylem anatomy
• Functional plant morphology, especially with respect to plant water relations
• Drought-induced tree mortality, climate change and forest decline
• Aluminium accumulation and heavy metal uptake in plants
• Tropical plant diversity, ecology, conservation and sustainability of natural resources

Research & teaching experience

• 01/20/2014-present: W3 professor in Tropical Botany, Ulm University
• 01/05/2009 – 20/01/2014: Carl-Zeiss junior Junior professor in Tropical Botany, Ulm University (Germany)
• April-June 2007 - 2009: Lecturer, Structural Botany, Horticultural School, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• 01/02/2006 – 30/09/2008: Visiting Lecturer, Plant Morphology & Anatomy, K.U.Leuven, Belgium
• 05/07/2004 – 30/04/2009: Plant Anatomist at the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, U.K.
• 01/10/2001 – 02/07/2004: Postdoctoral fellowship of the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders (Belgium), Laboratory of Plant Systematics, K.U.Leuven, Belgium
• 1998 - 2001: Research Assistant, Laboratory of Plant Systematics, K.U.Leuven, Belgium
• 1994 - 1998: PhD-student, Laboratory of Plant Systematics, K.U.Leuven, Belgium

Awards

• April 2011: New Phytologist Tansley Medal for Excellence in plant science 2010 for the paper by Lens et al. (2011) published in New Phytologist 190: 709-723.
• December 2004: Emmett B. Carmichael Award of the Alabama Academy of Science for the best article in the Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science during 2004 (R.R. Dute was senior author; SJ was co-author).
• 13 December 2002: Fellow of the Linnean Society, 2002.
• 16 August 2001: Katherine Esau Award-2001 offered by the “Botanical Society of America”, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Overview of grants obtained

2009-present:  1310k€ W1&W3 position, Germany (German Science Foundation, MWK Baden-Wurttemberg, German Academic Exchange Service, National Science Foundation, Carl-Zeiss Foundation, European Science Foundation)

2004-2009: 196k€ Researcher (RBG, Kew), UK (Royal Society, Natural Environment Research Council)

2001-2004: 32k€ Postdoc, Belgium (Fund for Scientific Research – Flanders)