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Omer Nevo; PI
I'm an evolutionary ecologist specializing on chemical communication between plants and animals. I am currently a junior professor at iDiv and Friedrich Schiller University Jena. 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

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John Clarke; Post-doctoral researcher (iDiv, FSU Jena)
John is an evolutionary biologist and palaeontologist interested in testing drivers of phenotypic and species diversity using phylogenetic comparative methods. Having first applied these methods to Mesozoic fishes, he now applies them to large datasets of extant plants, fishes, and insects. His main project at iDiv employs phylogenetic and genomic tools to understand the evolutionary dynamics of early fruit evoltution. 
You can find more here, or at Google Scholar, Twitter, or Bluesky
Linh M.N. Nguyen; PhD candidate (iDiv, FSU Jena)
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).
[email protected]
Diary Razafimandimby; PhD candidate (University of Antananarivo)
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; PhD candidate (iDiv, FSU Jena) 
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.
Gabriela A. S. Escaliante; PhD candidate (iDiv / FSU Jena / TreeDi)
Gabriela is a PhD candidate at iDiv/FSU Jena and is part of the TreeDì research training group. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Chemistry from Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil. Her research project focuses on assessing biodiversity effects on the metabolome and volatiles from litter at biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments both in Germany and in China.
Maria Eduarda Appel; MSc student (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.
Laura Ekkawi; MSc student (FSU Jena)
Laura Ekkawi is a master student at the university of Jena at the Evolution, Ecology and Systematics program. Combined with her B.Sc. in Psychology she is now following her interest in working at the interface of bioscientific and psychological research. Her Master's thesis is centered in human olfactory research. Her project revolves around the olfactory perception of volatiles emitted during mental disease.
Alina Sellien; MSc student (FSU Jena)
Alina is an M.Sc. student at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in the Evolution, Ecology, and Systematics program. She has a Bachelor degree in conservation biology and political science from the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (formerly University of Koblenz-Landau). Her M.Sc. research project focuses on the olfaction of mouse lemurs in relation to fruit traits.
Maya Heyland; MSc student (FSU Jena)
Maya is an MSc student in the Evolution, Ecology, and Systematics program at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. She earned her 
Bachelor's degree in Biology and Ecology from the University of Montpellier. Growing up in Southern Africa sparked her passion for animals and interest in animal behavior. For her Bachelor’s thesis, she studied  the personality traits of ladybugs (Harmonia axyridis). Her MSc research focuses on elephant-human conflict; investigating whether African elephants avoid olfactory predator cues.
Selina Gerdes (FSU Jena)
Selina is an MSc student at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, where she is enrolled in the M.Sc. program Evolution, Ecology, and  Systematics. For her Master’s thesis, she is analyzing large plant datasets to study how seed mass correlates with species  diversification in angiosperms. She previously completed her  Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a focus on Ecology and Evolution at Bielefeld University, where she conducted research in evolutionary ecology on the mating behavior of wax moths.
Franziska Roderburg (iDiv)
Franziska is the administrative assistant of the Evolutionary Ecology at iDiv and a dedicated humanitarian in her private life.
Before joining the group she worked as project assistant for the United Nations in Geneva and studied Applied Foreign languages, International Administration and Business Management. Besides, she was active on medical and educational projects in Northern Africa especially during the war. She likes to use the gifts, talents and privileges she has to try and make life better for others.
Past group members
Helene Witan (University of Leipzig; iDiv)
Helene is a Biology BSc student at Leipzig University since 2020. She is currently in her 7th semester and working on her bachelor thesis, focusing on drivers of variation in sugar composition in wild figs from Madagascar.
Anna Azeroth (iDiv; University of Leipzig)
Anna recently completed her MSc thesis in the Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution
program at the University of Leipzig/iDiv. She used maps and models to analyse hotspots and
past and present ecological and human predictors of genetic diversity of amphibians in East Africa. She is interested in small and large-scale ecological interactions and relationships, their links to evolution and the changes in these relationships resulting from climate change. Through her practical bachelor’s degree at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, she brings a lot of experience and enthusiasm for fieldwork and is looking  forward to combining both interests in a Phd! Anna is currently a research assistant in the group, compiling a dataset of fruit and flower traits across an elevational gradient.
Franka Meyer (Göttingen University, iDiv)
Franka Meyer conducted her BSc thesis on the effect of intraspecific variation in fruit trait on lemur seneosry ecolgy. She is now an MSc student at Potsdam University.
Laura Gomez Devia (2021-2023)
Laura Gomez Devia conducted her MSc thesis at the group. Her work focused on the effect of temperature gradient on fruit traits, with the question how a changing climate may affect plant-animal interactions. Before joining the group she studied biology at the Pontifical Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. She is currently a PhD student at IMEDEA (Mallorca, Spain).