Research Interest and Projects
Research interests
My research centres on determining the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of variation in levels of neutral and adaptive genetic diversity in natural populations. Ongoing studies investigate:
(1) the role of dispersal and connectivity in fragmented populations and the effect of metapopulation dynamics on the viability of natural populations.
(2) how species cope with extreme environmental conditions and adapt to alpine environments
Research Projects
Evolutionary
conservation genetics
Microevolution in blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla)
Collaborator: PD Dr. Martin Schaefer (University Freiburg)
Landscape genetics of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in the Black Forest
Collaborator: Dr. Rudi Suchant, Veronika Braunisch (Forest Research Institute Baden- Württemberg)
Landscape genetics of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in the Swiss Alps
Collaborator: Dr. Hannes Jenny (Amt für Jagd und Fischerei des Kantons Graubünden)
Genetic diversity in lowland black grouse (Tetrao tetrix)
Collaborator: Prof. Jacob Höglund (EBC Uppsala, Sweden