About me
PhD student and insect-microbial-fungal enthusiast, interested in species interactions. In August 2015 I received Master of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Helsinki University.
Group members: Ayco Tack (main supervisor), Pil Rasmussen (PhD student), Laura van Dijk (PhD student), Alvaro Gaytan (PhD student), and Etsuko Nonaka (Postdoc).
Check the group page here: http://plantmicrobeinsect.com/
Teaching
Course assistant at Ecology I (BSc)
Other acitivities
Member of the Department communication group in 2018-2019. Check DEEP Twitter and homepage.
Research
Interactions between plants, microbes and insects on oak
The main aim of the current PhD project is to investigate the role of insect microbes (endosymbionts) and plant-based microbes (endophytes, pathogens) in understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of the diverse insect and pathogen community on the oak tree Quercus robur. The specific aims of the project are:
- to understand if there is geographic variation in the endosymbiotic species associated with individual species of herbivore insects on oak;
- to understand if there is geographic variation in the endosymbiotic species associated with individual species of the parasitoid community on oak;
- to assess the impact of the microclimate on the pathogen communities on oak;
- to understand the role of cryptic mildew species, leaf endophytes and fungal hyperparasites in shaping the fungal community on the oaks (i.e., to describe species interactions, and the factors that shift the balance of these interactions).
Photo of the warming experiment run in 2017.
Here, we investigated the impact of experimental heating, tree genotype and their interaction on the spring and autumn phenology of the pedunculate oak Quercus robur, as well as the consequence for the dynamics of higher trophic levels.