I am a postdoctoral research scholar in Jonathan Eisen’s lab. I study host-microbe interactions at early development stages of salmonid fishes. Recently, I have started to concentrate more on the marine realm. Now, I am finding ways to quantify how the rise of the isthmus of Central America affected the evolution of symbioses between marine animal hosts and their associated microbes. I am using lucinid bivalves with their bacterial chemosymbionts and members of the porcelain crab family as my study organisms.
Previously, I was a postdoc with Stephanie Carlson at UC Berkeley working on Oncorhynchus mykiss gut microbiomes and how they correlate with different host migratory life history strategies. I did my Ph.D. at the University of Lausanne, in Claus Wedekind’s group under co-supervision of Luga Fumagalli. For my doctoral thesis, I studied the interaction of host embryos (brown trout – Salmo trutta, European grayling – Thymallus thymallus, and whitefish – Coregonus spp.) and their bacterial symbionts, and how this relationship is affected by genetic and environmental effects. I also mentored several students who were interested in life-history strategies and maternal effects in brown trout and European grayling, as well as sex differentiation and its implications for conservation in grayling. You can find my complete CV here!
I am passionate about diversity and critical thinking in academia and strive to make it more family-friendly. I am a co-founder of the Berkeley Spouses, Partners & Parents Association. I am also an active science communicator. You can read some of my blog posts on The Molecular Ecologist, the Research Coordinated Network for Evolution in Changing Seas, or our project website. I get really happy when I can spend time with my family. Sometimes I also write about that. See my google scholar profile for my publication record. You may contact me at megaptera.helvetiae@gmail.com and follow me on twitter!
Jonathan Eisen's Lab 