At the University of Vienna, I obtained a bachelor’s in Biology with a focus on Ecology. I wrote my thesis on the Biogeography of Carnivora in the Malay Archipelago. I then entered a master´s program in Evolutionary Systems Biology at the same university. As part of the program, I did an Erasmus internship at the CEFE in Montpellier in which I helped to design, set up and run an evolutionary experiment on adaptation of the green algae Dunaliella salina to multiple stressors. I also contributed phylogenetic analyses on wild strains which – combined with experimental evidence – shed light on the physiological diversity within this species complex and provided arguments for splitting it into multiple species. 

My master´s thesis dealt with the theoretical question of if one could use the (eigen-)patterns of mutational trait correlations to predict their pleiotropic structure. By considering the probability of achieving “hidden pleiotropy,” I was able to argue why a lack of correlation is most likely caused by a lack of pleiotropy. In parallel, I pursued a second master´s degree in Zoology. For this thesis I established a laboratory protocol at the University of Veterinary Medicine of Vienna allowing for non-destructive and minimally invasive DNA extraction from historical pinned insect specimens. 

For my PhD in Robert Kofler´s lab, I aim to use my insect DNA extraction protocol to investigate the history and prevalence of horizontal transposon transfer throughout many taxa. Second, I will continue developing the use of ancient DNA sequencing methodology for novel applications (extracting DNA from the remains of insects from soil, from insects entrapped in copal and from mollusk shells from archeological sites). Finally, I will use spatial phylogenetic modelling to investigate whether environmental factors explain differences in the historical rates of horizontal transposon transfer in European butterflies.