Curriculum vitae

Education and employment

I took a total of 12 months of maternity leave in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and cared for my terminally ill mother for 12 months across 2017 and 2018. I home-schooled during the covid-pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Grants & prizes (total €1.690.092)

• Project ‘Genomics of migration: analyses across a migratory divide’, with Dr. Angela Schmitz Ornés & Prof. Miriam Liedvogel, German Ornithologists‘ Society (DO-G), 2024-2026 (€10.000)
• Project ‘Determining the extent and impact of an avian influenza outbreak in a long-term study population of common terns (Sterna hirundo)’, German Ornithologists‘ Society (DO-G), 2023-2025 (€3.000)
• Project GENE-LIFE ‘Gene-environment interactions in a long-lived seabird: how do immune genes and pollution interact to affect the microbiome and fitness components of common terns?’ with Dr. Radosław Włodarczyk, Polish & German Science Foundations (NCN & DFG), 2023-2025 (€184.914)
• Project Nav07 ‘Causes and consequences of variation in the migratory phenotype in a long-lived seabird’ within SFB1372 ‘Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour’, 2023-2026 (€368.400)
• Project ‘Untersuchungen zur genetischen Diversität der letzten Lachseeschwalbenpopulation Mitteleuropas’ with Prof. Miriam Liedvogel, German Ornithologists‘ Society (DO-G), 2021-2023 (€10.000)
• Workshop grant for a workshop on the ‘Causes and consequences of inclusive inheritance’ with Dr. Miriam Liedvogel & Dr. Britta Meyer, Max Planck Society, 2018 (€20.000)
• Norddeutscher Wissenschaftspreis with Dr. Miriam Liedvogel & Dr. Britta Meyer for the project ‘Die epi-genetische Architektur des Alterns - eine Mehrgenerationenstudie an Flussseeschwalben‘, 2018 (€50.000)
• Project ‘Ausstellung zur Biodiversität und Forschung an Flussseeschwalben’ with the city of Wilhelmshaven, NBank, 2018-2023 (€685.975)
• Project ‘Weltenbummler bei uns zu Gast - wir zu Gast bei den Flussseeschwalben; Ausstellung zur Biodiversität am Beispiel der Flussseeschwalbe’, German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), 2016-2024 (€125.000)
• Project ‘Understanding the epigenetics of parental age effects in common terns' with Dr. Miriam Liedvogel, Max Planck Society, 2016 (€70.000)
• Rubicon postdoctoral fellowship for the project ‘Genetic, ecological and behavioural determinants of individual variation in mortality’, Dutch Science Foundation (NWO), 2011-2013 (€147.700)
• Small Ecological Project Grant for the project ‘Exploring the genetic basis of senescence in a wild bird population’, British Ecological Society, 2009 (£ 1.880)
• Ecological research Grants for the projects ‘The evolutionary ecology of basal metabolic rate and ageing’ & ‘Exploring the genetic basis of senescence in a wild bird population’, Schure-Beijerinck-Popping fund, 2006 & 2009 (€7.000 & €2.805)

• Travel Grant, Dutch Science Foundation (NWO), 2006 (€3.230)

In addition, I have contributed to grants obtained by Bin-Yan Hsu (Academy of Finland, 2020), Maria Moiron (Marie Curie, 2018 & Alexander von Humboldt, 2021 & DFG, 2024), Melina Castano (DAAD, 2022) and Nathalie Kürten (German Federal Environmental Foundation, 2018) to work in my group.

Selection of seminars and conference contributions

• ‘Age-dependent shaping of the social environment in a long-lived seabird – a quantitative genetic approach’, Royal Society Meeting on ‘Age & Society in the Wild’, UK, 2024 (oral)
• ‘Highly pathogenic avian influenza as a novel agent of selection in breeding seabirds’, British Ornithologists’ Union Annual Conference on Evolutionary Responses, UK, 2023 (oral)
• ‘Terns in times of change: how climate change, mercury pollution and avian influenza affect a long-lived seabird’, Edward Grey Institute, Oxford University, UK & Greifswald University, Germany, 2023 (invited seminars)
• ‘How avian influenza erased a quarter of the Banter See common tern population’, Workshop on the Development and consequences of the recent bird flu outbreak among terns in the Wadden Sea and adjacent areas, Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Germany, 2022 (invited plenary)
• ‘Patterns of, and processes underlying, transgenerational age effects in a long-lived seabird’, Workshop on the Causes and consequences of inclusive inheritance, Germany, 2019 (plenary) & Institute of Ecology, National University of Mexico, Mexico, 2019 (invited seminar)
• ‘Understanding senescence and trans-generational parental age effects in a long-lived seabird’, Congress of the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, Finland, 2019 (invited plenary) & Wageningen Ecology & Evolution Seminar, Netherlands, 2021 (invited seminar) & University of Turku, Finland, 2021 (invited seminar)
• ‘Visdieven op de voet gevolgd’, Congress of the Dutch Ornithological Union (NOU), Netherlands, 2019 (invited plenary)
• ‘Age-specific fitness consequences of developmental conditions in a long-lived seabird’, 151st Meeting of the German Ornithologists‘ Society, Germany, 2018 (oral)
• ‘Disposable soma or disposable offspring? Partitioning fitness consequences of developmental conditions over age in a long-lived seabird’, 5th Meeting of the Evolutionary Demography Society, France, 2018 (invited plenary)
• ‘Does crime pay? Kleptoparasitic common terns raise offspring with longer telomeres at the expense of their own’, Workshop on ‘Diversity in telomere dynamics’, UK, 2017 (oral)
• ‘Partitioning fitness consequences of developmental conditions over age: a method and case study with sibling rank in a long-lived seabird’, Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society, Germany, 2016 (oral)
• ‘Parental age and offspring performance: patterns and processes of trans-generational effects in birds’, (i) Evolutionary Ecology group, University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2015, (ii) Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, (iii) Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology Plön, Germany, (iv) Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, 2016 (invited seminars)
• ‘Ecological causes of multi-level covariance between size and first-year survival in a wild bird population’, (i) Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK, 2013, (ii) Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 2014 (invited seminars)
• ‘Great tits growing old: patterns and processes of ageing in a wild bird population’, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK, 2011 (invited seminar)
• ‘Individual variation in the rate of senescence: associations with natal conditions and early life reproduction’, European Ornithological Conference, Latvia, 2011 (invited symposium talk)
• ‘Basal metabolic rate and the rate of senescence in the great tit Parus major’, Congress of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, Australia, 2010 (oral)
• ‘Similar patterns of age-specific reproduction in an island and mainland population of great tits, Parus major’, Hole-breeding Passerines Meeting, UK, 2010 (oral)
• ‘Great tits growing old: reproductive senescence in a wild bird population’, Department of Animal Ecology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 2009 (invited seminar)
• ‘Individual differences and senescence in wild bird populations’, Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, UK, 2009 (invited seminar with Ben Sheldon)
• ‘Individual variation in the rate of senescence: associations with natal conditions and early life reproduction’, EGI Ornithology Conference, UK, 2009 (oral)
• ‘Great tits growing old: senescence and selective disappearance along a breeding cycle’, (i) EGI Ornithology Conference, UK, 2008, (ii) Annual meeting of the Netherlands Society for Behavioural Biology, The Netherlands, 2008 (oral)
• ‘Individual patterns in reproductive senescence in great tits’, Congress of the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, Sweden, 2007 (poster)
• ‘Individual consistency and phenotypic flexibility in basal metabolic rate in great tits’, Hole-breeding Passerines Meeting, Poland, 2007 (oral)
• ‘Metabolic correlates of exploratory behaviour in great tits’, Congress of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, France, 2006 (oral)

Workshops and other scientific events attended (a) and organised (o)

• Royal Society Meeting on ‘Age & Society in the Wild’, UK, 2024 (o)
• Annual meeting of the German Ornithological Society, Germany, 2022 (o)
• ‘The evolutionary ecology of avian senescence’, IOC, South Africa, 2022 (o)
• ‘Causes and consequences of inclusive inheritance’, Germany, 2019 (o)
• ‘Expertise in management and supervision’, Germany, 2018 (a)
• ‘Diversity in telomere dynamics’, UK, 2017 (a)
• ‘Heterogeneity in individual life-history trajectories over age’, Norway, 2015 (a)
• ‘Theoretical models of transgenerational effects and developmental plasticity’, UK, 2012 (a)
• ‘Wild animal model biannual meeting’, France, 2011 (a)
• ‘Bayesian population analysis using WinBUGS’, Switzerland, 2011 (a)
• ‘Longitudinal studies of senescence’, The Netherlands, 2009 (o)
• ‘Modelling individual histories with state uncertainty’, France, 2008 (a)
• ‘Avian personality’, The Netherlands, 2007 (a)
• ‘Individual variation in basal metabolic rate’, The Netherlands, 2007 (a)
• ‘Senescence in wild populations’, UK, 2006 (a)

Teaching

I lecture, supervise student seminars, provide practical courses and co-organise scientific seminars. At the University of Oldenburg, I currently teach 8.8 LVS a year:

In addition, I have (co-)supervised, and am supervising, the following students:

• Anna Schnelle, PhD student Oldenburg, 2021-2024
• Justine Bertram, PhD student Oldenburg, 2021-2024
• Pia Gössling, Msc student Bielefeld, 2024
• Michelle Malisius, Msc student Oldenburg, 2024
• Kristina Nieswand, Msc student Bielefeld, 2024
• Justin Knetch, Student Aeres University Almere, 2023
• Sanahé le Gouee, Msc student University of Burgundy, 2023
• Johanna Eilers, Student Hochschule Bremen, 2023
• Nathalie Kürten, PhD student Oldenburg, 2018-2023 (→ postdoc @ IAR)
• Benno Rodemann, Bsc student Boston, 2022
• Louis Bauchet, Bsc student La Rochelle, 2022
• Johanna Eilers, Student Hochschule Bremen, 2022
• Niels Groothuis, Student Aeres University Almere, 2022
• Hannah Pump, Msc student Hochschule Anhalt, 2022
• Katharina Koch, Bsc student Bremen, 2021
• Carsten Becker, Msc student Oldenburg, 2021
• Justine Bertram, Msc student Rostock, 2020 (→ PhD @ IAR)
• Kristin Piening, Bsc student Oldenburg, 2019 (→ PhD @ University of Gdańsk)
• Andrea Parisi, Msc student Middlesex University, 2019 (→ PhD @ Galway Mayo Institute of Technology)
• Fairlie Kirkpatrick Baird, Msc student Imperial College London, 2019
• Jasmine Somerville, Msc student Imperial College London, 2019 (→ PhD @ University of Exeter)
• Niamh Bothwell, Msc student Imperial College London, 2019
• Sina Boettcher, Bsc student Oldenburg, 2018
• Vanessa Schreiber, MSc student Rostock, 2018 (→ PhD @ Stockholm University)
• Mark Hase, MSc student Rostock, 2018 (→ PhD @ University of Siegen)
• Hanna Kurz, BSc student Vechta, 2018
• Imre Schuitemaker, Student Aeres University Almere, 2018
• Finnja Mattig, Jugendforscht, competed in 2018 (→ 3^rd place)
• Björn Köhler, BSc student Oldenburg, 2018
• Marie Bourgeois, MSc student Lyon, 2017
• Nathalie Kürten, MSc student Oldenburg, 2017 (→ PhD @ IAR)
• Anika Neu, MSc student Berlin, 2016 (→ PhD @ University of Greifswald)
• Alessio Paoletti, MSc student Groningen, 2016
• Svenja Wahlen, MSc student Oldenburg, 2016
• Matthias Herold, MSc student Oldenburg, 2016
• Amke Loots, MSc student Oldenburg, 2016
• Mara Ruiz Minano, MSc student Groningen, 2015 (→ PhD @ University of Tasmania)
• Marie Bourgeois, BSc student Montpellier, 2015
• He Zhang, PhD student Oldenburg, 2013-2014 (→ Statistician @ University of Copenhagen)
• Sina Lange, BSc student Oldenburg, 2014

Academic service

I am a member of the advisory boards of the German Ornithological Society and SPI Birds. I was a handling/associate editor for Journal of Ornithology (2019-2023; 63 manuscripts) and Journal of Animal Ecology (2017-2019; 52 manuscripts) and served as a Council member of the Waterbird Society (2016-2018). I have examined theses (4) and reviewed manuscripts for the American Naturalist (3), Animal Behaviour (1), Ardea (1), the Auk (1), Current Biology (1), Ecology (2), Ecology Letters (3), Evolution (4), Evolutionary Ecology (1), Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution (1), Functional Ecology (2), Ibis (2), Journal of Animal Ecology (13), Journal of Ornithology (14), Methods in Ecology and Evolution (1), Oecologia (2), Oikos (2), PLoS ONE (1), Proceedings of the Royal Society B (11) and Seabirds (1). I have also reviewed grants for the European Research Council (1), UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (2), Leverhulme Trust (1) and Natural Environment Research Council (1), the Polish National Science Centre (2) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (1).

Other relevant experience

I hold licences for animal experimentation in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, and a ringing permit in Germany. I act as an Animal Welfare Officer within the Institute of Avian Research and for the University of Oldenburg. My statistical skills include mixed models, mark-recapture survival analyses and quantitative genetic modelling using MLwiN, E-surge and R.

Outreach

I strongly believe that scientists (and biologists in particular) should share their fascination for, and developing insights in, the natural world with a wide audience. With my team members, I therefore provide public tours and give public talks (e.g. Science Pub, rent-a-scientist). I have also collaborated with the city of Wilhelmshaven to establish an exhibition at our field site (opened 12 May 2023), maintain academic X (@CommonTerns) and Bluesky (@commonternproject.bsky.social) accounts, participate in interviews for radio items and newspaper articles, and contribute to documentaries, television programmes (e.g. BBC’s The One Show, NDR's ‘Unser Norden’, ARTE’s ‘Wild medicine’ and ‘Birds’, Friesischer Rundfunk’s daily news). Since 2019, I am deputy chair of the Nordwestdeutschen Universitätsgesellschaft and since 2020, I am on the extended board of the Marschenrat, co-organising local outreach events.