Maximilian Lau is an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences, Geoengineering and Mining at the Technical University of Freiberg. His research and teaching spans biogeochemistry, earth system sciences and limnology. His projects explore the cycling of nutrients through inland water bodies such as lakes, reservoirs, streams, and wetlands, and the role of these systems in the global carbon cycle. He has undertaken research in boreal Sweden and Quebec, and within a range of temperate, tropical, and alpine environments, combining field-based observatory with modelling studies. He received a PhD in environmental chemistry from the University of Greifswald in 2016. Maximilian is a member of the global lake ecological observatory network (GLEON) and is an affiliate researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin.