I am currently conducting my PhD here at FABI with Prof. Bernard Slippers as my main supervisor.

I am highly interested in fungal diversity studies and the use of advanced molecular techniques to study fungal evolution. Back home in Germany I completed my bachelors and masters degree at the Technische Universität Braunschweig (Technical University of Brunswick). While my three-month bachelors thesis I got an insight into the pathosystem Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (former Chalara fraxinea) and Fraxinus excelsior which is causing the current ash dieback in Europe. To accomplish my masters thesis I moved to Uppsala and worked within the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology at the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences. My thesis title:"Validation of the visual assessment of Heterobasidion annosum s.l. and Phlebiopsis gigantea colonization of Picea abies stumps by real-time PCR". I was able to develop a stable method to quantify DNA of the pathogen and the biocontrol agent of a major disease in Scandinavian forestry. Within my PhD project I pursue a broader approach by understanding fungal community interactions in Eucalyptus using ecological genomics and functional transcriptome analysis.