About me

Yes, I know it is a terrible cliché, but I did indeed grow up with animal books and the dream of becoming a wildlife researcher in far away exotic countries. Yet as I got older, I realised that being hot and sweaty and stung by mosquitos while following a radio-tagged lion is not my thing, and I settled for the much more comfortable surroundings of a University laboratory (officially, I appreciate the ability to better reproduce and control experiments in these settings, but the proximity to a kettle and the ability to shower each night had their share in turning me into a lab rat).

But I was lucky: I still got to work on exciting animals (hawkmoths, electric fish, box jellyfish and the most exotic of all: mice) and their fantastic abilities to resolve the world around them with their senses. And I also had the chance to explore strange and wonderful countries that my work took me to (I spent 5 years in Sweden during my PhD, and 1 year in Finland for a PostDoc). You don't have to be sweaty and hot to explore new cultures and beautiful landscapes - though as I learnt, you still have to suffer through the mosquitoes. I set my criteria for coming back to Germany rather strictly: it had to be warm and sunny enough to make wine. And so I spent a great 4 years in the beautiful town of Würzburg, before moving for wine-harvest in 2022 to the Southern tip of Germany in Konstanz.

When I am not working in the lab, inspecting how the neurons in my study animals process visual information, I can be found squirting water canons at unsuspecting people (aka engaging in science communication), singing in choir or going for a walk with my camera. If you are into black on white facts and numbers, you can download my CV here.