Vogel holds a doctorate in
chemistry from
Heidelberg University. Since 2007, he has worked at the Heidelberg-based company Rifcon GmbH in
quality assurance, focusing on the chemical and physical evaluation of
pesticides and their effects on
reptiles. His career as a herpetologist was inspired by a meeting with
Konrad Klemmer of the
Naturmuseum Senckenberg. Since 1985, he has worked as a freelance herpetologist in
Asia. His first article, on the
bronze back snakes (
Dendrelaphis) of
Thailand, appeared in
herpetofauna in April 1990. During his fieldwork, Vogel has traveled to
China,
India,
Malaysia,
Sumatra, Thailand,
Vietnam,
Laos, the
Philippines,
France,
Yugoslavia,
Turkey,
Greece and
Tunisia. Vogel collaborates frequently with international herpetologists, including the French researcher
Patrick David on the genera
Xenochrophis,
Oligodon,
Trimeresurus,
Tropidolaemus,
Amphiesma,
Macrocalamus and
Boiga, as well as with Dutch herpetologist
Johan van Rooijen on the
descriptions of ten new species of
Dendrelaphis and the revalidation of several older names. He is co-author of the books
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mount Kinabalu (North Borneo) (with Rudolf Malkmus, Ulrich Manthey, Peter Hoffmann and Joachim Kosuch),
The Snakes of Sumatra (with Patrick David) and
The Snakes of Sulawesi (with Ruud de Lang). He is also editor of the
Terralog series on
venomous snakes. == Species described ==