Degrees
2015 – 2018 PhD at Christian Albrecht’s University Kiel and GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany (magna cum laude); thesis title: “Eco-evolutionary importance in competing marine phytoplankton communities”
2013 – 2014 Master of Science in Marine and Fisheries Ecology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (with distinction); thesis title: “The spatial footprint of fish farms on benthic microbial communities – using phospholipid fatty acids and their isotopicsignatures”
2009 – 2013 Bachelor of Science in Biology at Christian Albrecht’s University Kiel, Germany (grade:1.8, very good); thesis title: “Tolerance of pristine and anthropogenic influenced populations of Perna viridis towards hyposalinty under different feeding conditions”
Current employment and Work experience
Since 2022 Postdoctoral researcher at Turku University, Finland on a DFG (German Research Foundation) funded Walter Benjamin stipend to study: “Eco-evolutionary mechanisms underlying critical transitions in microbial communities”
Previous work experience
2020 – 2022 Postdoctoral researcher at Åbo Akademi University, Finland within “The Sea” and on a Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters founded project:“When Ecology and Evolution Tango”. Mobility of 6 weeks to the Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg University, Sweden to study the effect of genetic diversity across trophic levels in an international research team.
2019 – 2020 Postdoctoral researcher at GEOMAR, Germany in the DFG funded Project: “Nutrient uptake-related trait variability and trade-offs – adaptive evolution and community functioning in competing phytoplankton species”
2013 Three month Internship at the Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg University, Sweden on: “Genes to greenhouse gases: adaptation potential of barnacles to ocean acidification”
2010 – 2013 Research assistant at the Department of Benthic Ecology at GEOMAR Kiel, Germany on “Invasion success of the seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla”, “Influence of ocean acidification on growth and feeding behaviour of Carcinusmaenas”, “Impacts of ocean acidification on the barnacle Amphibalanus improvises” and the “Kiel Benthic Mesocosms”
2011 – 2012 Six-month Internship at the Marine Biology Department of the Institute Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia: helping to conduct experiments with brittle stars, analysing samples for a research project on the impact of temperature and sediment structure on the hatching success of sea turtles
2011 – 2012 Working for the marine exhibition “MeerErleben”: maintaining the exhibition and caring for live animals, giving guided tours with groups of diverse ages and backgrounds
2010 Working at the aquarium “Ostseestation Laboe”: sustaining aquaria systems and giving tours explaining marine life in the North- and Baltic Sea
Career breaks
2020 9 month of parental leave with the 2nd child
2017 11 month of parental leave with the 1st child
Awards and honours
2019 Young Community Ecologist Award for an oral talk at the 2nd International Conference on Community Ecology
2015 Student Presentation Award ASLO 2015
Conferences
4 Talks and 5 Poster presented at international conferences in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, and online
Research supervision and leadership experience
Principal Supervisor for 1 Bachelor thesis, 3 internships
Co-Supervisor for 4 Master theses, 2 Bachelor theses, 5 internships
Leadership In the last two years, I have been leading, together with another postdoctoral researcher, my own group of about 3 students and one laboratory assistant.