CV

Career

since 2011 Reseach Scientist in the Division of Grassland Science, Department for Crop Sciences, University of Goettingen, Germany

2007-2011 Research Scientist at ‘Landwirtschaftliches Zentrum Baden-Württemberg (LAZBW)’, Aulendorf, Germany (part-time)

2006-2011 Doctoral researcher at the Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Germany

University Education

2011 PhD degree (summa cum laude), University of Hohenheim, Germany
Thesis: ‘Suitability of semi-natural grassland biomass for bioenergy generation through combustion’ , supervisor: Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Claupein

2000-2005 Diplom study in Agricultural Biology, University of Hohenheim, Germany, and University of Aberdeen, Great Britain
Thesis: ‘Spatial heterogeneity of a rotational pasture’, supervisor: Dr. Ulrich Thumm

 

Acquired third-party funding

2018-2023 Tonn B.: participation of University of Goettingen (284,250 €) within SUPER-G – Developing sustainable permanent grassland systems and policies, European Union Horizon 2020 (9,994,996 €)

2018-2021 Isselstein J., Kayser M., Tonn B.: subproject Growth responses of grass swards to tree-mediated temporal and spatial dynamics of light and temperature in a silvo-pastoral system (145,895 €) within SIGNAL – Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (2,444,890 €)

2015-2018 Isselstein J., Kayser M., Tonn B.: subproject Grassland tissue and litter production as affected by tree x grass sward interaction and grassland management (152,778 €) within SIGNAL – Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry, BMBF –Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (2,256,951 €)

2013-2019 Meissner M., Isselstein J., Tonn B., Balkenhol N., Herzog S.: Conservation of open landscapes by targeted land and wildlife management, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank (473,872 €)

2013-2018 Tonn B.: Scale-dependent effects of plant and animal functional characteristics on nutrient cycling in pastures, DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (255,000 €)

 

Thesis supervision

PhD theses

Dorothee Ebeling, ongoing: Productivity, N turnover and plant diversity of permanent pastures with differentiated swards

Sara Heshmati, ongoing: Novel genotypes for mixed cropping allow for improved sustainable land use across arable land, grassland and woodland – Plant traits for mixed grassland crops

Isabelle Nölke, ongoing: Novel genotypes for mixed cropping allow for improved sustainable land use across arable land, grassland and woodland – Plant traits for mixed grassland crops

Christoph Raab, ongoing: Conservation of open landscapes by targeted land and wildlife management – vegetation utilization

Friederike Riesch, ongoing: Conservation of open landscapes by targeted land and wildlife management – vegetation ecology

Andrea Schmiedgen, ongoing: Grassland tissue and litter production as affected by tree x grass sward interaction and grassland management

Michael Dickeduisberg, graduated 2017: Management and drought effects on growth and herbage yield of Tall Wheatgrass (Agropyron elongatum) for biogas production in Central Europe

Thorsten Scheile, graduated 2017: Scale-dependent effects of plant and animal functional characteristics on nutrient cycling in pastures

MSc theses
supervision and co-supervision of 8 MSc theses

BSc theses
supervision and co-supervision of 13 BSc theses

 

Teaching

Scientific Methods: Interdisciplinary Research Project
seminars and project work on agro-ecological topics for MSc Agricultural Science, University of Goettingen (UG)
full course (6 credits) co-taught, summer semester 2012-2016

Scientific Methods: Interdisciplinary Seminar
course on literature research, writing and presentation skills for MSc Agricultural Science, UG
full course (6 credits), winter semester 2011–2016

Agriculture and Conservation
seminar course for MSc Biodiversity and Ecology, MSc Agricultural Science, UG
full course (3 credits) co-taught, in winter semester 2011–2017

Crop and Grassland Science
course of lectures for MSc Agricultural Science, UG
1–3 units on grassland nitrogen dynamics and grazing ecology,
winter semester 2011–2016

Livestock and Landscape
course of lectures and seminars for MSc Agricultural Science, UG
1–2 units on grassland conservation and grazing ecology,
winter semester 2011–2017

Vegetation Science
course of lectures and field exercises for BSc Agricultural Science, UG
2 units of lectures on biodiversity measurement and plant strategies,
summer semester 2011–2018

Forage Production
course of lectures and field exercises for BSc Agricultural Science, UG
3 units of exercises on grassland plant identification,
summer semester 2012–2018

Introduction to Crop and Grassland Science
lecture course for BSc Agricultural Science, UG
1–4 units on scientific methods, grassland growth physiology, grassland nutrient dynamics and forage quality, winter semester 2011–2015

Regional Ecological Production and Marketing
course of lectures for BSc Agricultural Science, UG
1 unit on grassland production and management,
summer semester 2012, 2013, 2015

Introduction to Grassland Science within Introduction to Plant Sciences
course of lectures for BSc Agricultural biology, University of Hohenheim
3 units in summer semester 2010 and 2011

Introduction to data analysis and visualization
taught as part of supervised experiment-based BSc and MSc theses