My research deals with the function of sleep as this is one of the biggest biological questions so far still unresolved. I’m working with barn owls as a model species, because birds are the only other taxonomic group showing the same sleep states than mammals and offer therefore a great opportunity for comparative research. For my thesis I worked on establishing a non-invasive method to record the brain activity of birds in the field. Because of technological constraints, so far nearly all sleep studies were done in a laboratory environment and this may yield misleading results. I think by studying animals in the ecological context in which sleep evolved this might lead to more insight into the function of sleep.
2015 - current
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
2014
Associate Researcher, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
2007 – 2013
Ph.D., Avian Sleep Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany and Group Roulin, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Dissertation: Ontogeny of Sleeping in Color - Linking melanism to sleep architecture and rhythmicity variation in wild barn owl nestlings
2002 – 2007
Diploma (M.S.) in Biology, Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Germany
Thesis: Hormonal patterns during territorial challenges in European robins (Erithacus rubecula)
2001 – 2002
Intermediate diploma (B.S.) in Biology, University of Münster, Germany
