Dr. Leipe is a paleoethnobotanist and palaeoenvironmental researcher interested in how climate and environmental changes have influenced human agency and cultural trajectories since the last glacial maximum.

With a geographic focus on East Asia, Dr. Leipe employs palynology, archaeobotany, and various numerical approaches to reconstruct past climate, environmental changes, and human activities, such as agriculture and deforestation. He also looks at anthropogenic impacts on landscapes from an archaeological perspective, including population dynamics, observed patterns in migration processes, subsistence economies, crop dispersal, and early farming in different parts of this vast region.

Before joining the FEDD project, Dr. Leipe initiated and led pioneering work on applying flow cytometry in Quaternary research as a visiting associate professor at Nagoya University, Japan. He also conducted postdoctoral research at Free University Berlin after completing his doctorate studies.