Roland studied physics and astronomy in the early 1990s after completing his officer’s training in the German Military Police Force. He then moved on to archaeology, law and soil science at the University of Hamburg, Germany, before moving to Sheffield University, UK, graduating in archaeological sciences in 1998. He then completed his university education with a MSc in forensic archaeology at Bournemouth University, UK. Since then, he has been working as a freelance forensic archaeologist on international atrocity crime investigations in Bosnia, Croatia, Iraq, Cyprus and France as well as working on domestic crime cases in the UK and Germany. Roland regularly participates in delivering short courses in the USA and has done similar projects in Colombia. Most recently, Roland was one of the two Senior Archaeologists of the team that excavated 250 British and Australian Soldiers from WWI in Fromelles, France.

Roland's research focuses on Forensic Science.