Welcome to my page!
News
June/July 2019 - Busy times in Vienna and the heavy rains/thunderstorms and following heatwaves have challenged our field work this year - which was mastered thanks to great team effort! But #climatechangeisreal!
In June and July I visited project partners in Germany and Italy to prepare research projects, including visits to suitable study sites in olive groves. Very exciting exchange on biodiversity, impresse BioLabs at SSSA Pisa - and I hope to share more good news on this new project with you soon.
Take a look at new publications on my site - new editorials have been published in Biological Conservation, as well as the paper by Dainese Matteo et al. on "Biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production" in Science!
April 2019 - I feel very honored to receive an award from the University of Vienna for my publication output (at my first day back in office after IBOC, see March update). The YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD is given annually to young scientists who publish in the top journals of their field and I already have plans to invest the award funding of 7000 EUR to several activities related to research outreach, open science and science communication in my projects. Thank you University of Vienna for this recognition!
Our special issue on "Implementation Spaces in Conservation Science" for Biological Conservation is making great progress as well! We received many submissions and currently work on the selection of manuscripts for this special issue to provide a balanced mix of contributions from different disciplines, biogeographic areas and socio-ecological systems.
I am also working on the data analyses from our REGRASS project in Austria, as well as on the submission of research projects in Peru, Costa Rica, Italy and Greece - all related to better understanding and management of biodiversity and related ecosystem services that will involve local stakeholders and relevant decision makers. We are busy right now with these projects and are looking forward to report more about them soon!
March 2019 - I report freshly back from the IBOC conference in Israel, which was an amazing experience! I am thankful for the invitation of the organizers to give a keynote talk and that I got to know all the inspiring people and their projects at IBOC. I was particularly impressed by the activities of the SPNI to involve local communities in conservation action and events, and I recommend all bird and conservation lovers to check out their projects - especially Champions of the Flyway!
Feb 2019 - The year started with some complications that I had to cope with due to a serious jaw infection as a result of a wisdom teeth surgery. After almost three months of struggle I am back in the game and look forward to the many activities planned for this year. Please stay tuned!
Therefore I had to give my contribution to the Quantitative Ecology Workshop in Yaounde from my sick bed in Vienna - which was possible thanks to the great support of my colleagues in Africa! A thousand thanks for that. The symposium we submitted to ATBC 2019 was accepted and you can look forward to a great event on Sustainable tropical agroforestry: Balancing biodiversity and crop yield through ecosystem services!
--- for previous research activities, please check "CV & Publications" ---
Research Interests
My main interests as ecologist focus on the investigation of biodiversity patterns, species communities and associated functions in relation to their environment and the respective landscape design. In my research projects, I combine approaches from the scientific fields of Community Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation and Agroecology. In particular, I focus on ecosystem services, community-level responses to habitat transformation and innovative approaches for sustainable resource use and biodiversity conservation.
During my studies of biology at the University of Vienna (Austria), I had the opportunity to learn and participate in a variety of ecological research projects with both botanical and zoological focus - reaching from the Austrian Alps and various other nature reserves to the tropical rainforests of Costa Rica. For my diploma (Department of Population Ecology, University of Vienna), I investigated the effects of long-term habitat modification on avian communities and their functional diversity in Indonesian forest margin areas. I continued my research activities in Indonesia as PhD of the Agroecology Group (University of Goettingen, Germany), using large-scale exclosure experiments of birds and bats to study ecosystem services, multitrophic interactions and agricultural productivity, in relation to species diversity, ecological functions and human well-being. In 2014, I returned to the University of Vienna (Department of Biodiversity Research; CVL insitute) from where I continue my research on ecosystem services in temperate and tropical ecosystems and other activities related to agroecological research and its practical implementation in conservation and land use (check out my News feed above, CV&Publications as well as current teaching activities).
I am interested (1) to understand how faunal communities and associated ecosystem services are related to different landscape design, management regimes and environmental features; (2) to identify optimal conditions for the applied management of these services - ideally both for the benefit of human well-being and with respect to species conservation; and (3) to unravel how local management and landscape design affect the diversity of species, functionally important taxonomic groups, and ultimately, their trophic interactions and/or plant productivity.
In this context, I am committed to both the in-depth scientific study of these questions, as well as to their translation to the public, being involved in several projects dedicated to public awareness, the conservation of (endangered) biodiversity and agricultural sustainability.
Other Activities
Associate Editor of Biological Conservation
Asscociate Editor of Perspectives in Ecology and Evolution
Peer review for the following journals: Acta Chiropterologica; Agroforestry Systems; Biological Conservation; Biotropica; Bat Conservation International (BCI small grants); Community Ecology; Journal of Applied Ecology; Journal of Pest Science; PloS One; Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences; Scientific Reports (Nature); Tropical Conservation Science
Volunteering: Cooperation with smallholder cacao farmers in Central Sulawesi (2010 - 2018) to communicate research results of my PhD and the benefits of biodiversity and ecosystem services to the local farmer community and cacao stakeholders. I conducted several cacao farmer workshops between 2010 and 2014, translated a book for famers into Bahasa Indonesia (local language) and cooperate with the Tadulako University in Palu (lectures and student courses). Beyond that, I organized interdisciplinary lectures in Germany and give talks at different institutions in Europe and Indonesia to increase the awareness towards biodiversity-friendly landscape management, taking into account ecosystem services and feedback from local communities.
Further voluntary activities (selection):
Monitoring and banding of birds for WWF Austria, IFV Helgoland, BirdLife International and Auring e.V.
Translation work for nature conservation NGO's (e.g., The Orang-Utan Project in Sumatra; Ecotourism Bureau Malia Tours Sulawesi)
Volunteer at 'Lebenshilfe e.V.' (home for the handicapped; Austria)
Volunteer at ABNÖ (Niederösterreichische Berg,- und Naturwacht; training of rescue dogs)
Memberships: BirdLife; OBC (Oriental Bird Club); ATBC (Association for Tropical Biology
and Conservation); gtö (Society for Tropical Ecology); DO-G (Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft); IEP (International Elephant Project); ProRing e.V.; ÖAV (Österreichischer Alpenverein e.V.) and DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein e.V.); ABA (Austrian Biologist Association)
Last but not least, I like to think outside the box and to discover new challenges.
Besides the science, I am passionate about all mountain activities (hiking, climbing, slacklining),
dog training, journalistic and creative writing, photography, art, culture and creativity
from all over the world!
Let's enjoy and commit ourselves to a wonderful world.
June/July 2019 - Busy times in Vienna and the heavy rains/thunderstorms and following heatwaves have challenged our field work this year - which was mastered thanks to great team effort! But #climatechangeisreal!
In June and July I visited project partners in Germany and Italy to prepare research projects, including visits to suitable study sites in olive groves. Very exciting exchange on biodiversity, impresse BioLabs at SSSA Pisa - and I hope to share more good news on this new project with you soon.
Take a look at new publications on my site - new editorials have been published in Biological Conservation, as well as the paper by Dainese Matteo et al. on "Biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production" in Science!
April 2019 - I feel very honored to receive an award from the University of Vienna for my publication output (at my first day back in office after IBOC, see March update). The YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD is given annually to young scientists who publish in the top journals of their field and I already have plans to invest the award funding of 7000 EUR to several activities related to research outreach, open science and science communication in my projects. Thank you University of Vienna for this recognition!
Our special issue on "Implementation Spaces in Conservation Science" for Biological Conservation is making great progress as well! We received many submissions and currently work on the selection of manuscripts for this special issue to provide a balanced mix of contributions from different disciplines, biogeographic areas and socio-ecological systems.
I am also working on the data analyses from our REGRASS project in Austria, as well as on the submission of research projects in Peru, Costa Rica, Italy and Greece - all related to better understanding and management of biodiversity and related ecosystem services that will involve local stakeholders and relevant decision makers. We are busy right now with these projects and are looking forward to report more about them soon!
March 2019 - I report freshly back from the IBOC conference in Israel, which was an amazing experience! I am thankful for the invitation of the organizers to give a keynote talk and that I got to know all the inspiring people and their projects at IBOC. I was particularly impressed by the activities of the SPNI to involve local communities in conservation action and events, and I recommend all bird and conservation lovers to check out their projects - especially Champions of the Flyway!
Feb 2019 - The year started with some complications that I had to cope with due to a serious jaw infection as a result of a wisdom teeth surgery. After almost three months of struggle I am back in the game and look forward to the many activities planned for this year. Please stay tuned!
Therefore I had to give my contribution to the Quantitative Ecology Workshop in Yaounde from my sick bed in Vienna - which was possible thanks to the great support of my colleagues in Africa! A thousand thanks for that. The symposium we submitted to ATBC 2019 was accepted and you can look forward to a great event on Sustainable tropical agroforestry: Balancing biodiversity and crop yield through ecosystem services!
--- for previous research activities, please check "CV & Publications" ---
Research Interests
My main interests as ecologist focus on the investigation of biodiversity patterns, species communities and associated functions in relation to their environment and the respective landscape design. In my research projects, I combine approaches from the scientific fields of Community Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation and Agroecology. In particular, I focus on ecosystem services, community-level responses to habitat transformation and innovative approaches for sustainable resource use and biodiversity conservation.
During my studies of biology at the University of Vienna (Austria), I had the opportunity to learn and participate in a variety of ecological research projects with both botanical and zoological focus - reaching from the Austrian Alps and various other nature reserves to the tropical rainforests of Costa Rica. For my diploma (Department of Population Ecology, University of Vienna), I investigated the effects of long-term habitat modification on avian communities and their functional diversity in Indonesian forest margin areas. I continued my research activities in Indonesia as PhD of the Agroecology Group (University of Goettingen, Germany), using large-scale exclosure experiments of birds and bats to study ecosystem services, multitrophic interactions and agricultural productivity, in relation to species diversity, ecological functions and human well-being. In 2014, I returned to the University of Vienna (Department of Biodiversity Research; CVL insitute) from where I continue my research on ecosystem services in temperate and tropical ecosystems and other activities related to agroecological research and its practical implementation in conservation and land use (check out my News feed above, CV&Publications as well as current teaching activities).
I am interested (1) to understand how faunal communities and associated ecosystem services are related to different landscape design, management regimes and environmental features; (2) to identify optimal conditions for the applied management of these services - ideally both for the benefit of human well-being and with respect to species conservation; and (3) to unravel how local management and landscape design affect the diversity of species, functionally important taxonomic groups, and ultimately, their trophic interactions and/or plant productivity.
In this context, I am committed to both the in-depth scientific study of these questions, as well as to their translation to the public, being involved in several projects dedicated to public awareness, the conservation of (endangered) biodiversity and agricultural sustainability.
Other Activities
Associate Editor of Biological Conservation
Asscociate Editor of Perspectives in Ecology and Evolution
Peer review for the following journals: Acta Chiropterologica; Agroforestry Systems; Biological Conservation; Biotropica; Bat Conservation International (BCI small grants); Community Ecology; Journal of Applied Ecology; Journal of Pest Science; PloS One; Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences; Scientific Reports (Nature); Tropical Conservation Science
Volunteering: Cooperation with smallholder cacao farmers in Central Sulawesi (2010 - 2018) to communicate research results of my PhD and the benefits of biodiversity and ecosystem services to the local farmer community and cacao stakeholders. I conducted several cacao farmer workshops between 2010 and 2014, translated a book for famers into Bahasa Indonesia (local language) and cooperate with the Tadulako University in Palu (lectures and student courses). Beyond that, I organized interdisciplinary lectures in Germany and give talks at different institutions in Europe and Indonesia to increase the awareness towards biodiversity-friendly landscape management, taking into account ecosystem services and feedback from local communities.
Further voluntary activities (selection):
Monitoring and banding of birds for WWF Austria, IFV Helgoland, BirdLife International and Auring e.V.
Translation work for nature conservation NGO's (e.g., The Orang-Utan Project in Sumatra; Ecotourism Bureau Malia Tours Sulawesi)
Volunteer at 'Lebenshilfe e.V.' (home for the handicapped; Austria)
Volunteer at ABNÖ (Niederösterreichische Berg,- und Naturwacht; training of rescue dogs)
Memberships: BirdLife; OBC (Oriental Bird Club); ATBC (Association for Tropical Biology
and Conservation); gtö (Society for Tropical Ecology); DO-G (Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft); IEP (International Elephant Project); ProRing e.V.; ÖAV (Österreichischer Alpenverein e.V.) and DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein e.V.); ABA (Austrian Biologist Association)
Last but not least, I like to think outside the box and to discover new challenges.
Besides the science, I am passionate about all mountain activities (hiking, climbing, slacklining),
dog training, journalistic and creative writing, photography, art, culture and creativity
from all over the world!
Let's enjoy and commit ourselves to a wonderful world.
