I have completed my Diplom (M.Sc. equivalent) at the Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, University of Hamburg, Germany in 1995, working on Nitrogen excretion in the green shore crab, Carcinus maenas. For my PhD program, I stayed at this institution where I received by degree in 1999. From here I moved to Lake Forest College (Illinois, USA)/MDIBL to work on osmoregulation in crustaceans under the supervision of Dr. David Towle. In 2001 I moved as a Research Associate to the University of Illinois at Chicago (USA) to work on mechanisms of bile acid transport in the mammalian GI tract under Dr. Meena Rao. From here I went back to Germany as an independent project leader (DFG funded) to the University of Osnabrueck working on nitrogen transport in the mammalian and insect intestine. Finally, in 2007 I accepted a faculty position at the University of Manitoba (Canada) where I have become a Full Professor in 2018.