Christian Rabeling, Principal Investigator

Pronouns: He/him

Email:  crabeling@gmail.com 

Current appointments :

• 2022-present: Professor of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim
• 2022-present: Adjunct Professor, Social Insect Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University
• 2021-present: Research Associate, Department of Entomology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Education :

• 2011-2014: Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows and Museum of Comparative Zoology Labs, Harvard University (Advisors: Naomi E. Pierce & Edward O. Wilson)
• 2010-2011: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (Advisor: Ted R. Schultz)
• 2004-2010: Ph.D., Section of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin (Advisor: Ulrich G. Mueller)
• 1998-2004: Diploma in Biology, Institute of Zoology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany (Advisors: Wolf Engels & Manfred Verhaagh)

Christian's Vita: CV_Short_September2023

Kerstin Schoppe, Lab Manager

Pronouns: She/her

Email: kerstin.bach@uni-hohenheim.de 

Telephone : +49-(0)711-459-22834

Tanja Geyer, Administrative Specialist

Pronouns: She/her

Email : tanja.geyer@uni-hohenheim.de 

Telephone : +49-(0)711-459-22525

Matthew M. Prebus, Research Scientist

Pronouns: He/him

Email:  mprebus@gmail.com  

Current appointments :

• 2022-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim
• 2018-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Social Insect Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University

Education :

• 2010-2018: Ph.D., Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis (Advisor: Philip S. Ward)
• 2010: BS/BA, Biology. The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA (Advisor: John T. Longino) 

Dietrich Gotzek, Research Scientist

Pronouns: He/him

E-mail:  dietrich.gotzek@uni-hohenheim.de 

Current appointment :

• 2022-present: Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim

Education :

• 2017-2022: Research Scientist, Department of Entomology & Laboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (Advisor: Sean Brady)
• 2014-2017: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia at Athens (Advisor: Kenneth G. Ross)
• 2011-2014: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Advisor: Andy Suarez)
  2009-2011: Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution ( Advisor: Sean Brady)
• 2007-2009: Premier Assistant, Départment d'écologie et évolution, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland (Advisor: Laurent Keller)
• 2000-2006: Ph.D., Department of Entomology, University of Georgia at Athens (Advisor: Kenneth G. Ross) 
• 1999-2000: MS, Biology. Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC (Advisor: James T. Costa)
• 1994-1999: Diplom in Biology, Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Geosciences, University of Bayreuth, Germany (Advisor: Konrad Fiedler)

Kyle W. Gray, Research Scientist

Pronouns: He/him

E-mail: antskateclimb@gmail.com  

Current appointment :

• 2023-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim

Education :

• 2017-2023: Ph.D., School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University (Advisor: Christian Rabeling)
• 2012-2017: BS, Animal Behavior. University of California, Davis (Advisor: Philip S. Ward)   

Daniela Mera-Rodríguez, Ph.D. Candidate

Pronouns: She/her

Email:  danielamerarod@gmail.com 

Current appointments :

• 2022-present: Ph.D. candidate, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim

Education :

• 2018-2022: MS, Evolutionary Biology. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University (Advisor: Christian Rabeling)
• 2014-2018: BS, Agricultural Engineering (with honors). Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

Samyuktha Senthil, Ph.D. Candidate

Pronouns: She/her

Email:  samyukthasenthil96@gmail.com 

Current appointments :

• 2022-present: Ph.D. candidate, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim

Education :

• 2020-2022: MS, Biology. Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (Advisor: Tom Wenseleers)
• 2018-2020: Postgraduate Research Experience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (Advisor: Kartik Sunagar)
• 2014-2018: BS, Genetic Engineering. SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India (Advisor: Sivaramakrishnan V)

Tobias G. Pfeifer, Undergraduate Researcher

Pronouns: He/him

Email: tobias.pfeifer@uni-hohenheim.de 

Current appointments :

• 2023-present: Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Integrative Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Insects, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim

Education :

• 2021-present: BS, Biology, 2022: MS, Biology. University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany