Young Scientists

Young Scientists

Dear fellow Senckenbergers,

We are the representatives of BSc, MSc, graduate trainees, PhDs, and post-docs conducting their research at Senckenberg.

We act as an interface between students, supervisors and our administration.

Get involved!

What we do:

  • Network across Senckenberg locations through monthly meetings and a yearly retreat.
  • Advocate for Young Scientists through our role in the Wissenschaftsausschuss (scientific advisory board to the board of directors) and regular meetings with a member of the board of directors.
  • Provide support: bring us your ideas & problems.
  • Inform about training programs and administrative procedures.
  • Exchange with other networks (Leibniz PhD Network, ).

Would you like to be added to our e-mail list or get more involved?

Then please send us an e-mail at youngscientists@senckenberg.de

Your Young Scientists Team

We are looking for interested people from Müncheberg, Tübingen and Weimar!

Events

Monthly meetings

On the first Monday of each month at 11 am, all Young Scientists are invited to meet via Zoom. Discussions are led by the main and local speakers, who are always looking for feedback and ideas from their fellow Young Scientists. We discuss topics from the different Senckenberg locations, from our working groups (see below), and plan our local speaker meetings and the Young Scientists retreats. Please e-mail us have a specific topic of interest for the meeting. We are always excited by new members, even if you just want to sit in, listen and learn what’s going on. Often a group from your location is already participating so by getting in touch with your local speaker you can just add yourself to the meeting. Monthly meetings are also a good way to learn how to get more involved. We always need help and are good at adapting to as little or as much time as you can offer.

If you are using twitter or Instagram, you could use the #YSatSGN to be a part of our community via social media 

Young Scientists Retreat

We organize annual Young Scientists Retreats, which started in Wilhelmshaven in 2008 and are held alternately in Frankfurt and at the other Senckenberg locations.

Our Young Scientists Retreat is a great way to network, learn more about Senckenberg, and share your research.

  • See and be seen: Present your current research, thesis, or a (planned) project through science slams, talks and posters.
  • Insights into Senckenberg: Learn more about structures and processes within Senckenberg and discuss with a representative from the board of directors.
  • Benefit from the Senckenberg network: Get to know other scientists, exchange ideas and benefit from new collaborations and our experience. Invited guests give lectures on interesting research going on at Senckenberg or Young Scientist-specific topics, such as mentoring, third-party funding, etc.
  • Travel to new places: Get to know the other Senckenberg locations, their research areas, facilities and staff.
  • Have fun! Every retreat includes an excursion – we have walked through the “Watt” in Wilhelmshaven, looked at geological formations in the Sächsische Schweiz, explored fossil beds at the Grube Messel, and searched for beavers in the Spessart.

Our Team

At the end of each year, we vote for people to fill the positions listed below.

The new election will be in November 2023. If you are interested, please write to us! 

For the year 2023, the following people were elected: 

 

 

Main Speaker

Dr. Julia Gerasimova
Head of Molecular Evolution of Plants and Fungi section and Head of Grunelius-Möllgaard Laboratory
Lennart Gries
PhD Student

Research interests

I am captivated by the dynamic nature of species interactions, with a particular interest in the effects of anthropogenic drivers on a macroecological scale. My research often focuses on temperature as both an abiotic driver of environmental change and as a physiological boundary. Within my PhD project, I aim to unravel the effects of global change on trophic networks, with a focus on the role of omnivores for food web rewiring. By compiling a large-scale database on trophic interactions of omnivores, I am able to ascertain the influence of anthropogenic global change drivers such as rising temperatures and intensifying land-use on trophic response mechanisms. This project is being funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and supervised by Dr. Jörg Albrecht.

More generally speaking, I use quantitative analysis of large data sets spanning multiple animal taxa for a wide range of topics linked to global change. Previous work has been focused on the influence of temperature on physiology and population dynamics of ectothermic animals and dated phylogenomic reconstruction.

Key-words

Trophic interactions, biodiversity, global change, thermal physiology, omnivory, macroecology, climate change

CV

Dr. Paula Ribeiro Anunciação
Humboldt postdoctoral research fellow
Aaron Kauffeldt
Aaron Kauffeldt
Ph.D. student
My general research interest centers on exploring how ecosystems respond to human-induced global change. I use spatially explicit biological models to gain deeper insights into the connection between global change and biodiversity.    I’m currently working on how extreme weather events affect bird distributions and populations in Germany. My objective is to offer valuable recommendations for conserving species and their habitats in the context of climate change, particularly in the face of extreme weather events. This project is funded by a doctoral scholarship spanning three years, awarded by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). 

CV

Local Speakers and other Representatives

Leibniz Representatives

Armelle Ballian
Ph.D. Student

Research Interests

I am a geologist whose main interests cover sedimentary geology, exogenous processes and paleoenvironmental studies.

My PhD project is part of the second phase of a DFG-funded SPP  ‘Mountain Building Processes in Four Dimensions (MB-4D)’.

The project, entitled ‘Reconstructing Eastward Propagation of Surface Uplift in the Alps: Integrating Stable Isotope Paleoaltimetry and Paleoclimate Modelling (REAL)’ aims at constraining the surface uplift history of the European Alps in a paleoclimatic context. My project focuses on the Western and Eastern Alps, along with extending the record for the Central Alps to pre-Miocene times. The research focuses on stable isotope-based paleoelevation and paleoclimate reconstructions (ẟ18O, ẟD, D47-D48). The obtained ẟ-ẟ paleoaltimetry and clumped isotope-derived paleotemperature records are coupled with an isotope tracking atmospheric General Circulation Model (GCM) performed by colleagues from the ‘Earth System Dynamics Group’ at the University of Tübingen.

 

Education

04.2021 – Present : PhD student at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2017 – 2020 : M.Sc. in Earth Sciences, Freiburg University, Germany
2014 – 2016 : B.Sc. in Earth Sciences, Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, France

 

Professional Experience 

11.2020 – 03.2021 : Laboratory technician for research in hydrogeochemistry, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon (LGL), Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, France
12.2018 – 07.2020 : Research assistant (HiWi), Sedimentary Geology and Quaternary Research Department, Freiburg University, Germany

Local Speakers Wilhelmshaven und Hamburg

Angelina Eichsteller
PhD Student

EICHSTELLER, A., TAYLOR, J., STÖHR, S., BRIX, S., & MARTINEZ ARBIZU, P. (2022). DNA Barcoding of Cold-Water Coral-Associated Ophiuroid Fauna from the North Atlantic. Diversity, 14(5), 358.

Jenny Neuhaus
Jenny Neuhaus
PhD Student

I am enrolled as a PhD student at the DZMB Hamburg, and part of the IceDivA project (Icelandic Marine Animals meets Diversity along latitudinal gradients in the deep sea of the Atlantic Ocean) led by Dr. Saskia Brix who is a specialist in epifaunal communities of the deep sea, with special focus on isopods. In my studies, I am aiming to understand and resolve patterns of distribution, connectivity, and population dynamics of various invertebrate taxa (Cirripedia, Isopoda, Bivalvia, Polychaeta) across adjacent deep-sea basins in the North Atlantic Ocean.

  • 2022 – PhD in deep-sea invertebrate communities, DZMB Hamburg, Senckenberg am Meer
Alexandra Möller
Alexandra Möller
PhD Student

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexandra-Moeller

Doktorandin im Projekt FishNet

seit 2022
Doktorandin im FishNet Projekt am DZMB Wilhelmshaven, Senckenberg am Meer
Schwerpunkte: Biomasse Bestimmung, sowie Nahrungsnetz und Habitat-Analysen harpacticider Copepoden im Wattenmeer Schleswig-Holstein (DE)

2019-2022
M.Sc. Biodiversität und Ökologie in Greifswald; Erasmus Semester in Lund (Schweden) im M.Sc. Aquatic Ecology
Schwerpunkte: Marine and Aquatic Ecology, Aquatic Microbiology, Ecotoxicology, Ornithology, Reproductive Biology
Titel der Masterarbeit: “Innovative methods for biomass estimation of subtidal meiobenthic copepods in the Wadden Sea (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)”

2019
Umweltpraktikum auf der Hamburger Hallig mit Schwerpunkt Umweltbildung und Ranger-Arbeit

2015-2019
B.Sc. Biologie in Greifswald mit Vertiefung Zoologie
Schwerpunkte: Entwicklungsbiologie, Zoologische Systematik, Vegetative Physiologie, Tierische Gifte, Parasitologie
Titel der Bachelorarbeit: „Die Auswirkung des Ernährungszustands auf das vibratorische Balzverhalten und den Reproduktionserfolg von männlichen Listspinnen (Pisaura mirabilis)“

2014-2015
Freiwilliges ökologisches Jahr am Umweltstudienplatz Nordseeküste in der UmweltIJugendherberge Tönning mit Schwerpunkt Umweltbildung

Local Speakers Müncheberg

Catrina Balthasar Doktorandin im Hydropho-Projekt
Cathrina Balthasar
PhD student in the project PYROPHOB

Local Speakers Frankfurt

Ariane Moulinec
Ariane Moulinec
Armelle Ballian
Ph.D. Student

Research Interests

I am a geologist whose main interests cover sedimentary geology, exogenous processes and paleoenvironmental studies.

My PhD project is part of the second phase of a DFG-funded SPP  ‘Mountain Building Processes in Four Dimensions (MB-4D)’.

The project, entitled ‘Reconstructing Eastward Propagation of Surface Uplift in the Alps: Integrating Stable Isotope Paleoaltimetry and Paleoclimate Modelling (REAL)’ aims at constraining the surface uplift history of the European Alps in a paleoclimatic context. My project focuses on the Western and Eastern Alps, along with extending the record for the Central Alps to pre-Miocene times. The research focuses on stable isotope-based paleoelevation and paleoclimate reconstructions (ẟ18O, ẟD, D47-D48). The obtained ẟ-ẟ paleoaltimetry and clumped isotope-derived paleotemperature records are coupled with an isotope tracking atmospheric General Circulation Model (GCM) performed by colleagues from the ‘Earth System Dynamics Group’ at the University of Tübingen.

 

Education

04.2021 – Present : PhD student at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2017 – 2020 : M.Sc. in Earth Sciences, Freiburg University, Germany
2014 – 2016 : B.Sc. in Earth Sciences, Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, France

 

Professional Experience 

11.2020 – 03.2021 : Laboratory technician for research in hydrogeochemistry, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon (LGL), Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, France
12.2018 – 07.2020 : Research assistant (HiWi), Sedimentary Geology and Quaternary Research Department, Freiburg University, Germany