I grew up in a family of nature lovers. My father, a microbiologist, passed on his enthusiasm for animals, plants and ecosystems to me at an early age. When I think of my childhood, I remember the various pets we had: turtles, ants, rats, a dog, stick insects, birds, spiders, snakes… We often went hiking in the Alps, where my father pointed out beautiful beetles and edible mushrooms, and every holiday my brothers and I spent countless hours fishing, snorkelling, trying to catch crabs and watching lizards.
Long before I finished school, I knew I wanted to be a biologist. To fulfil my dream of learning more about nature, I studied biology at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen. However, as I was particularly passionate about ecology, I decided to do my Masters in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich.
With every course I took and every year I studied, my passion for nature grew. At the end of 2021, I found a great position at the Chair of Terrestrial Ecology at the Technical University of Munich, where I am delving deep into the complexities of plant-insect interactions. As I expect to complete my PhD by the end of 2024, the question arose as to how I should continue my journey.
During my studies, I volunteered in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, travelled to several tropical countries, gained insight into ex-situ conservation strategies in two different zoos, and learned more about birds and their behaviour. Through all these projects and experiences, one thing became crystal clear to me: We are losing our biodiversity and we have to do something about it. I have to do something about it. And as much as I love research, I believe we need to translate our knowledge into action and conservation strategies, and we need to start acting now.
This is why Andrew and I founded RARElab: to study species in complex and threatened ecosystems, to move quickly and adapt to our ever-changing world, to help protect and understand our species, and to bring together the power of many: biologists, conservationists, local people and the public. Together we can protect the precious nature our planet has to offer.
Check out how you can support our cause to research and protect lost, rare, and understudied species.