Ichthyologist

University of Bern
Aquatic Ecology and Evolution
Bern, Switzerland
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Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology - Eawag

I’m a taxonomist, phylogeneticist, and evolutionary biologist dedicated to discovering and describing fish diversity and understanding the general patterns of diversification and evolutionary history and processes that in combination have shaped the fishes' biodiversity over temporal scale. My research focuses on the evolutionary history, taxonomy, anatomy, ecology, and biogeography of European and Neotropical freshwater fishes.

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As an advanced Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bern, Eawag and the Wyss Academy for Nature in Switzerland, I am conducting with other colleagues an ambitious large-scale project entitled "Mitigating climate change impacts on freshwater fish diversity in Switzerland". This ambitious project is essential as Switzerland experiences warming at a rate double the global average, which necessitates effective conservation management to balance economic interests with biodiversity preservation. Our interdisciplinary project involves collaboration with scientists, governmental agencies, and NGOs to develop science-driven conservation strategies. Key components of the project include accurate fish species identification, description of new species, and building species distribution models to predict how climate change and other anthropogenic factors will affect biodiversity in the future. By identifying species' sensitivity to these factors, we aim to determine the most critical biotic and abiotic factors for species persistence and select optimal areas for restoration and conservation. In my role, I am responsible for the biodiversity aspect of the project, which includes taxonomy, mapping species distributions, and resolving European species complexes. My work involves integrating taxonomic approaches to clarify species identities and improve our knowledge of fish biodiversity. Preserving biodiversity hinges on accurately naming species because effective conservation relies on proper identification and understanding of the species involved.

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My research program spans the continuum from basic taxonomy to evolutionary questions based on phylogenetic comparative methods and diversification models to understand the morphological evolution involved in the transitions of Neotropical and European fish groups with distinct ecological roles and also underlying implications for diversification rate and species accumulation through time. I also have a passion for field work, fish photography, creating maps of fish geographic distributions, and to teaching molecular systematics labs.