With a background in Industrial mechanics and visual arts, Thorsten moved from his native Germany to the Republic of Ireland in the early 2000's, where he first pursued a career in sound engineering but later crossed over to archaeology. For his post graduate research on GIS and cave archaeology he was awarded a PhD in Archaeology at Atlantic Technical University(formerly IT Sligo) in 2016. Shortly after graduating he took a post-doctoral research fellowship on the SUNDASIA project at Queen's University Belfast. His research focused on Mid-Holocene coastline modelling in the Red River Delta (Vietnam) and the identification of potential archaeological caves within the Trang An UNESCO World Heritage Site. During this time he developed expertise in UAV-based photogrammetry, 3D modelling and consolidated his skills in topographical surveying and GIS.

Thorsten is now employed as a senior technician in GAP, he runs the Geophysics section in the Archaeology department where he teaches and also provides research staff support in remote sensing as well as UAV, terrestrial surveying and laser scanning. He is based in the Centre for Geographic Information Science and Geomatics(CGISG) in the Elmwood Building where he provides technical and research support in GIS and surveying. He also set up and runs the new 3D maker suite in the CGISG, which provides high quality 3D printing and modelling services to staff and students.