Welcome!
I am the head of the Coleoptera section at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany – with more than 1.8 million specimens and ca. 6.000 type specimens.
As an evolutionary biologist, my research foci lies at the intersection of phylogenetics, spatial ecology and ecological biogeography, with a particular interest in probing macroevolutionary patterns and processes.
I integrate fieldwork, ecology, systematics, and bioinformatics with the purpose of understanding the evolutionary processes governing biodiversity assemblages and how these change across space and time.
Please feel free to browse and get in touch in case you have questions/doubts or ….just want to chat!
Enjoy!
My Research
Arising out of my work on systematic entomology, I have focused on a variety of topics pertaining to macroecology and macroevolution that have intrigued me, e.g., evolutionary radiations, Red Queen hypothesis, niche conservatism, demanding synergy of interdisciplinary methods, theory, and innovative software and technologies. Besides beetles, I have also worked, in collaboration with colleagues, on other groups, including bees, wasps, birds, marine invertebrates and ultimately my work is question driven.
My research program includes three primary areas, intertwined with my collection management approach,
which focus on data sharing and digitalization:
Insect Taxonomy, Systematics & Phylogenomics
Much of my research has focused on the evolution of phytophagous beetles. These taxa display remarkable morphological diversity, with plasticity in all life stages and unusual types of behaviors, much of which remains to be studied and described.
Ecological biogeography
A second focus of my research is bioinformatic modeling to understand biotic and abiotic interactions in defining the ecological distribution of species.
Biodiversity Informatics
With the majority of my projects being collection-based, I am highly interested in the field of biodiversity info rmatics, promoting and generating methods to solve problems of organizing, accessing, visualizing and analyzing primary biodiversity data
Curator's corner
Within the nexus of my research are my activities as curator. In this context, I plan to focus on the continuation of the digitization of the beetle collection. The conservation of such valuable resource is paramount, particularly in face of the rapidly growing possibilities of extensive data extraction from collection material.
Check here for updates on the development of several projects to advance the digitazation of our collection
