Biography

I conduct research on various applied aspects of plant pathology. I have considerable experience working with Pectobacteriaceae, ubiquitous bacterial pathogens with a broad host range and the cause of potato soft rot and blackleg. I am particularly interested in insects associated with these bacteria and other bacterial plant pathogens in the field, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these diverse associations.

Recently, my work has focused on practical and bioinformatics implementations of metabarcoding or amplicon sequencing as a tool for the detection and identification of plant pathogenic fungi, oomycetes, nematodes and bacteria, as well as invasive plant and insect species.

I obtained my BSc and MSc from the University of Tübingen, where I discovered my passion for plant pathology at the Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP). During my PhD period (2015-2018), I studied potato soft rot in Norway under the main supervision of Prof. May Bente Brurberg (NIBIO/NMBU).

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