Research Team

The natural world around us has always fascinated me: from large mammals, to small insects, to micron-sized microbes. This inherent interest motivated me to study biology. During my Bachelor studies, I thought I would specialise in animal behaviour. However, the incredibly cool tools that molecular microbiology offers pulled me away from this path. I ended up with a Masters in biomolecular sciences and did my PhD within the fungal genetics field. As a postdoc, I found my way back to studying animal behaviour through a research program that allows me to combine behavioural ecology with my, initially unexpected, fascination for fungi and molecules.

After initially setting up my lab at UCF in Orlando, Florida, I am currently an associate professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. My lab studies parasites that change host behaviour. One of the most dramatic examples of this phenomenon are the zombie ants. I use this fungus-insect interaction as a model system to study the fungal natural products involved in host manipulation and their effects on insect behavioural pathways. The overarching aim of this work is to elucidate how parasites can affect the behaviour of their hosts, how behaviour is regulated and dysregulated at the molecular level, and what neuroactive compounds are involved. By answering these fundamental research questions we are discovering novel bioactive compounds that can be used in more sustainable pest control approaches or have medical applications.