Born and raised in Germany, he is an avian ecologist with over 25 years of experience in basic and applied biodiversity research, climate change impacts on biodiversity, citizen science, conservation planning, community-based conservation action, bird-based tourism, alternative livelihoods, NGO management, fundraising, and capacity building in the Americas. Formally trained as a field ornithologist at the University of California at Davis, in 1995 he started to conduct research for his Ph.D. thesis on the community ecology of Andean forest birds in Bolivia, and he has lived there ever since. While conducting postdoctoral work on the same topic, in 2002 he became the Science Director of Bolivia’s leading bird conservation organization, Asociación Armonía. Since 2008 Sebastian has worked in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile through engagements with internationally operating organizations including the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, NatureServe, and the National Audubon Society. He currently works as the Protected Areas Strategy Director for the National Audubon Society’s international division, Audubon Americas. Sebastian has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, edited a book on climate change and biodiversity in the tropical Andes, and is lead author of the Birds of Bolivia field guide.