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Professor Jörg Völkel focuses on global climate change and landscape formation, particularly during notable transition periods in terms of climate and land use history. His research involves analyzing geoarchives based on geomorphodynamics and soil formation in regions including Central Europe, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and high-altitude mountainous areas such as the Rocky Mountains and the Alps. This research aims to validate future environmental scenarios. His interests also comprise Critical Zone research, earth functions protection, geophysical prospecting, and geoarchaeology. Völkel studied geography, biology, soil science, and geology at RFU Bonn, where he completed his diploma in 1985 and state examination in 1986. He obtained his doctoral degree from the same university in 1988, receiving the university’s doctoral prize. In 1993, he earned postdoctoral teaching qualifications from the University of Regensburg and subsequently joined JGU Mainz. Before coming to TUM in 2007, he was a professor of soil science at FSU Jena. He currently leads the German Research Foundation (DFG) Research Training Group 462 on Palaeo Ecosystem Research, coordinates several research associations, and is an active member of the Bavarian Climate Council and the Geomorphology Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.