Education
Koch studied medicine at the Universities of Jena and Marburg, and afterwards was a Stadtphysicus (state physician) in Trarbach and Kaiserslautern (1798).
Botanist educationist physician university professor
Koch studied medicine at the Universities of Jena and Marburg, and afterwards was a Stadtphysicus (state physician) in Trarbach and Kaiserslautern (1798).
In 1824 he became a professor of medicine and botany at the University of Erlangen, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. At Erlangen, he was also director of the botanical gardens. Among his better written efforts was a synopsis on German and Swiss flora titled Synopsis florae germanicae et helveticae (1835-1837).
Another noteworthy publication of his was Catalogus plantarum florae palatinae (Catalog of Palatinate flora) (1814).
The plant genus Kochia (Chenopodioideae) is named in his honor.
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]
In 1833, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.