I´m a biogeographer and ecologist, currently holding a FWO PhD scholarship fundamental research at Wildlife Health Ghent, Ghent University, in Belgium. I´m also an affiliated scientist in the Biogeography Department at Trier University in Germany.

Explore this website if you want to dive into my ongoing and past research. I´m always happy about questions and collaborations all across the globe and across scientific disciplines!

Since my earliest beginnings I´ve been captivated by amphibians (especially all kinds of toads!), and hence most of my research focuses on amphibians and their diseases, but some research endeavours have led me into or tree-of-life-wide conservation research as well as into developing new methods for molecular ecologists.

My research focuses on global amphibian declines, phylogenomics, biogeography and systematics of Neotropical anurans, ecology and evolution of amphibian chytrid fungi, and ultimately the development of new field-deployable molecular methods. I am combining genomics, metagenomics, and CRISPR-diagnostics with biogeographic and ecological modelling, microbiological tools and integrative 'next-generation' taxonomics in my projects.

Most importantly, my research tries to document and ultimately conserve the world's most imperilled biodiversity – particularly in the hyperdiverse forests of Central and South America. Besides my research, I have therefore co-created the NGO Habitats Conservation with an international group of scientists, conservation practitioners, and visionaries. At Habitats, we work on conserving the world's most pristine and threatened ecosystems.

To foster accessible molecular biodiversity monitoring, I am further co-directing the biotech start-up Samplifylab. This grassroot lab has become a central unbureaucratic vehicle for collaboration with non-institutional conservation leaders.