WELCOME!
Imagine a world without this – nature’s astonishing diversity:
Luckily, we don’t have to! But how did this diversity arise? What maintains it? And why isn’t there even more in some cases? As an evolutionary biologist, I’m fascinated by these questions, and they drive my research.
I am intrigued by the processes that generate biological diversity, particularly adaptation and speciation. My research examines how ecological differences shape selection and how populations respond, both phenotypically and genetically, to these pressures. I am especially interested in addressing conceptual problems and approach them with a combination of methods, including field and laboratory experiments, phenotypic analyses, high-throughput genomic sequencing, and computational modeling.
A major challenge in evolutionary research is inferring past processes from present-day patterns. I thus focus on systems where evolutionary change can be observed on ecological timescales. To test for causality more directly, my recent research places particular emphasis on complementing comparative approaches with manipulative field experiments.
My main study system is the threespine stickleback, a small fish that has rapidly adapted to diverse freshwater habitats across the Northern Hemisphere since the last ice age (<12,000 years). Owing to their rich genomic resources and their suitability for both field and laboratory studies, sticklebacks provide an outstanding system for uncovering the ecological and genetic factors that drive, sustain, or constrain evolutionary change. In addition to sticklebacks, I have also worked on diversification in other systems, including cichlids, icefish, lampreys, sculpins, and Daphnia crustaceans.
Academic path & current position
• Senior Research Assistant, University of Bern
09/2018 – present
Research group: Prof. Catherine Peichel
• Postdoctoral Researcher, University of British Columbia, Canada
10/2015 – 07/2018
Advisor: Prof. Dolph Schluter
• Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Basel
01/2015 – 08/2015
Advisor: Prof. Walter Salzburger
• PhD in Zoology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Basel
11/2011 – 12/2014
Supervisor: PD. Daniel Berner
• MSc in Animal Biology, University of Basel
11/2009 – 10/2011
Supervisor: PD. Daniel Berner & Prof. Walter Salzburger
• BSc in Organismal Biology, University of Basel
10/2006 – 06/2009
Please contact me for a full CV.