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Omer Nevo; PI

I'm an evolutionary ecologist specializing on chemical communication between plants and animals. My main interest is the evolution and ecological functions of fruit scent in the context of seed dispersal by animals, especially primates. My work employs both field and lab methods and examines animal-plant interactions using a broad comparative approach as well as more detailed explorations of smaller model systems. You can download my CV here.

Short CV:
2020 - : Emmy Noether Junior research group leader, iDiv & Institute of Biodiversity, FSU Jena 
2015 - 2020: Postdoc, Ulm University
2015: PhD Biology, Georg-August University Göttingen
2010: MSc Human Evolution and Behaviour, University College London
2009: BSc double major, Biology and Archaeology, Tel-Aviv University

​omer.nevo<#AT#>evolutionary-ecology.de
Skype: omernevo84
Linh M.N. Nguyen; PhD candidate (iDiv, FSU Jena; 2021 - )
Linh M.N. Nguyen is a PhD candidate at iDiv and FSU Jena. Her research project explores the evolution of fruit scent as a signal for seed dispersal, starting in Spring 2021. She employs ecological, chemical, and genomic tools to identify how seed dispersal by lemurs has driven the evolution of Madagascar's fig chemistry. Before joining the group, she studied chemistry (BSc, Carroll University) and botany (University of Wisconsin - Madison).
linh_mai_nhat.nguyen@idiv.de
Diary Razafimandimby; PhD candidate (University of Antananarivo;  2020 - )
Diary Razafimandimby studies the interaction between fruit characteristics and lemur senses. She conducted her MSc research on the sensory behavior of red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer). She is now starting a PhD project at the University of Antananarivo, applying an ecological network approach to study the patterns of interactions between figs (Ficus spp.) and lemurs and birds.
Evangelia - Linda Chronopoulou (iDiv) 
Evangelia - Linda Chronopoulou is an expert generalist and researcher who joined our team in 2021 to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an ecologist. Her main project focuses on the relationship between fruits and microbes investigating whether they evolved to be Friends or Foes in the context of seed dispersal. She applies knowledge from food microbiology in the lab while, in Madagascar, mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) will be joining her field experiments as fig tasters. She is also conducting a project on the effects of temperature change on floral and fruit traits.
Laura Gomez Devia (TU Dresden)
Laura Gomez Devia is a master student of the Technische Universität Dresden, who is highly interested in the drivers of the mutualistic relationship between plants and animals. With her research project in Madagascar she aims to give a step forward in the understanding of how abiotic factors affect tropical fruit traits and hence seed dispersal networks. Before joining the group she studied biology at the Pontifical Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia
Maria Eduarda Appel (FSU Jena)
Maria Appel is an MSc student at Friedrich Schiller University Jena at the Evolution, Ecology, and Systematics program. She has a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences from Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Her main interest is in understanding evolutionary and ecological processes and their integration with social research to work towards the conservation of tropical ecosystems. Her MSc research project focuses on the ecology and evolution of fruit maturation, investigating the role of climacteric and non-climateric fruit traits in the seed dispersal syndrome in uncultivated native species in Brazil.
Aliya Damberger, Administrative Assistant (iDiv, University Leipzig; 2021- )

Aliya Damberger is the administrative research assistant in the group since spring 2021.