Lynn Govaert

I am an evolutionary ecologist. I always had a fascination for traits, and how traits change and evolve. The awareness that such trait evolution can actually occur fast and interact with ecological dynamics has sparked my research interest in eco-evolutionary dynamics, in which traits play a central role. Specifically, I research how ecological and evolutionary processes interact and simultaneously shape and structure freshwater communities and ecosystems in their response to environmental change.

Laurence Bolick

I am a research technician at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). During my studies I became fascinated with ciliate diversity and their key role in food web dynamics. My position in Lynn Govaert’s group offers me with an ideal working environment to deepen my understanding of how ciliate communities are shaped via eco-evolutionary adaptations in a changing world. My diverse tasks include the isolation of ciliates from freshwater samples, their morphological identification and the maintenance of a large ciliate culture collection used in an array of eco-evolutionary laboratory experiments.

Emily Booms

I am a PhD student at the Leibniz-Institute of freshwater ecology and inland fisheries (IGB). During my studies in aquatic biology, I have become very interested in the effects humans can have on aquatic organisms, more specifically due to environmental change. I research the eco-evolutionary dynamics in communities of freshwater ciliates in response to environmental change.

Simon Leoz

I am a doctoral student at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). My background in mathematics has provided me with insights into the fascinating areas of dynamical systems and modeling using differential equations. I have always wanted to apply my skills for the collective good, and I found ecological and environmental sciences to be particularly interesting application areas. Using data on freshwater species provided by my experimentalist colleagues, I am constructing models to assess the strength of interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes and estimate the effects of environmental change on these interactions.

Luis A. Macías-Pérez

I am an environmental microbiologist focusing on the characterization of microbiomes in natural and anthropogenic environments using a combination of microbiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and chemical techniques. I am particularly interested in investigating the diversity, function, and interactions of microbial communities, their role in the biogeochemical cycles, and their adaptation to different anthropogenic contaminants. At the IGB, I study the effects of organic pollutants on the microbial biodiversity in Berlin’s urban ponds. These ecosystems, despite being relatively understudied compared to other freshwater systems, are essential in preserving biodiversity within densely populated areas. By analyzing around 100 urban ponds through analytical chemistry, metagenomics, and culture-based methods, my aim is to gain comprehensive insights into the complex spatial and seasonal dynamics between contaminants and microbial communities within urban ecosystems.

Fatima Saleem

I am a PhD candidate at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), specializing in environmental microbiology. The primary focus of my project is to characterize the microbial communities inhabiting urban ponds and the gut of planktonic crustaceans such as Daphnia. The overall goal is to investigate these microbial communities in terms of diversity, community composition and functional genes and their response to various chemical pollutants, to better understand the microbial adaptations and interactions in the environment.

Héléne Vanvelk

I am a PhD student at the University of Leuven. I would describe myself as a evolutionary ecologist with a particular interest in eco-evo dynamics. This has lead me to research how eco-evo dynamics of multiple species interact with each other. I place naturally co-occuring Daphnia species either in monocultures or mixed cultures in mesocosms and expose them to common selective pressures such as increasing temperature and fish predation. Then I perform various follow-up experiments to asses the evolutionary response of the different species as well as the ecological consequences of these changes. In my free time, I enjoy swimmming, diving and meeting up with friends.

Luca Blümke

Master student working on environmental change effects on competitive dynamics between Colpidium striatum and Paramecium aurelia

Björn Brinkmann

Bachelor student working on invasion dynamics of Colpidium striatum

Fabian Schneider-Nettsträter

Master student working on how evolutionary history influences competitive dynamics between Colpidium striatum and Paramecium aurelia

Marielle Wenzel

Bachelor student working on local adaptation of Colpidium striatum