Molecular Geo- & Palaeobiology Lab
Lab Members » Past
Jasmine Haskell
short-term ESR in ITN IGNITE 2021/2022
Genomics
Supervisor: Gert Wörheide
Dr. Zara-Lousie Cowan
Post-Doc (2021)
Crown-of-thorns seastars
Saudat Alishayeva
EES Internship 2021
Student Research Assistant
Genomics
Vani Tirumalasetty
Student Research Assistant
SpongeTaxonOMICs v2
Leonard Namuth
MSc Student MGAP
Supervisor Dirk Erpenbeck
Emily Schrödel
BSc student 2021
Deep sea sponges
Supervisor Dirk Erpenbeck, Gert Wörheide
Sonja Kleucker
BSc student 2021
Moving Tethya
Supervisor: Oliver Voigt, Gert Wörheide
Stefanie Ries
MSc student 2020 MGAP
Sponge biodiversity
Supervisor: Dirk Erpenbeck
Co-Supervisor: Oliver Voigt
Sebastian Gölitz
BSc student 2020
Sponge holotype barcoding
Supervisor: Dirk Erpenbeck
Sophie Rötzer
BSc student 2020
Sponge Biodiversity
Supervisor: Dirk Erpenbeck
Daniela Rettenberger
BSc student 2020
Sponge Biodiversity
Supervisor: Dirk Erpenbeck
Mortiz Dirnberger
BSc student 2020
Ancient lake freshwater sponges
Supervisor:Dirk Erpenbeck
Simone Busch
BSc student 2020
Sponge Biodiversity
Supervisor: Dirk Erpenbeck
Neda Rahnamae
MGAP Masters Student 2018/2019
Supervisor Dirk Erpenbeck
Madeleine Kündgen
Bachelor Student 2018/2019
Spervisor Dirk Erpenbeck
Emilie Kaltenbacher
MGAP Masters Student 2018/1019
Supervisor Gert Wörheide
Elsa Girard
MGAP Masters Student 2018/2019
Supervisor Gert Wörheide
Since 2020 started a PhD in ITN 4D-Reef at Naturalis (NL)
Ksenia Juravel
ESR in ITN IGNITE (2018-2021)
Deep phylogeny
Supervisor: Gert Wörheide
Max Bergius
Bachelor Student (Supervisor Oliver Voigt)
Summer Semester 2018
Leonard Namuth
Bachelor Student (Supervisor Dirk Erpenbeck)
Summer Semester 2018
Fabian Deister
PhD student in SPP "Taxon-OMICS" (DFG funded project on Sponge TaxonOMICs)
2018 - 2021

(PhD not finished yet)
Benedetta Fradusco
PhD student (DFG)
Biomineralization in calcareous sponges
(supervisor Oliver Voigt)
until June 2019
Cüneyet Caglar
MGAP Masters student 2016/2017
Xenia regeneration
(supervisor Sergio Vargas)
Thorsten Zimmer
MGAP Masters student 2016/2017
Pinnigorgia biomineralization
(supervisor Sergio Vargas)
Laura Leiva
MGAP Masters student 2016/2017
Collospongia auris
(supervisor Sergio Vargas)
Dr. Dan Mills
Visiting PhD student and now PostDoc
from Canfield Lab in Odense (Denmark)
various visits from 2014-2017.
Markus Roller
BSc Student 2016
Laurent Garbay
BSc Student 2016
Sarah Benning
BSc Student 2016
Emilie Kaltenbacher
BSc Student 2016
Benjamin Eickhoff
BSc Student 2016
Stephanie Wandinger
BSc Student 2016
Melanie Sommer
BSc Student 2016
Dr. Yu Liu
Post Doc 2016 (LMUexcellent)
Cambrian arthropods
Carolin Gut
2015/2016 MGAP Masters student:
Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Tetractinellids from the Bahamas
Dr. Nicola Conci
(PhD student 2015-2020, DFG)
Genetics of coral biomineralization
(supervisor Gert Wörheide & Sergio Vargas)
June 2020- April 2021: PostDoc
since April 2021 working in the Industry
Peter Hofstetter
Bachelor student, SoSe 2015
Calcification and climate change in hydrocorals
Raúl González Pech
2015: EES Masters student
Coral Transcriptomics
Dr. Warren Francis
PostDoc
Comparative genomics and transcriptomics

Funded by LMUexcellent project MODELSPONGE 2014-2016
Funded by VILLUM Fonden (DK) grant 2016/2017
Now in Denmark doing a PostDoc.
Dr. Michael Eitel
PostDoc
Project Manager

ITN IGNITE
Dr. Martin Dohrmann
Post Doc (2016 - 2020)
DFG Research Fellow
(2013-2016)
André Kittelmann
MSc student 2014/15
Expression and Function of Biomineralization genes in Calcareous Sponges

BSc student 2013: Climate change and marine organisms: soft-corals
Lea Wiser
BSc student 2013: Climate change and marine organisms: Tethya wilhelma
Angelo Poliseno
(PhD student, graduated 2016)
Systematics of Octocorals
(supervisor Gert Wörheide & Sergio Vargas)
Dr. Verena Witt
(PostDoc)

Coral reef ecology
Alexandra Scherer
(Lab Technician, Geohistology)
2012-2013
Markus Steiner
Student Research Assistant - Aquaria
BSc student 2013: Phylogeny of freshwater sponges
Fabian Keller
Student Research Assistant
BSc student 2013: Phylogeography of Indo-Pacific Echinoderms
Daniel Frank
MSc Student 2012/2013
Microbiome of Antarctic sponges
Nicola Heckeberg
(PhD student) (Elitenetzwerk Bayern, DAAD) (2013 - 2017)

Molecular Palaeobiology of Cervidae.
(co-supervision with PD Dr. Gertrud Roessner, BSPG, and Dr. Rob Asher, University of Cambridge, UK)
Maria Tsekhmistrenko
BSc student 2012
Calcification and climate change
Gaurav Shimpi
(PhD Student 2012-2015) (DAAD)

Mitochondrial repair in non-bilaterian animals.
Miriam Küstner
MSc student 2012/2013
Phylogeography of Leucetta chagosensis
Niklas Petschko
MSc student 2014/15
Investigating the microbiome of Sponges

BSc student 2012
Reef Check in the Red Sea
Beaty Slaby
MSc Student 2012
Microbiome of Tethya wilhelma
Kerstin Pick
Deep poriferan phylogeny.
DFG project Wo896/6-1.
Astrid Schuster
(PhD student, DFG):
Evolution and systematics of lithistid sponges (2014 - 2017)
(supervisor Dirk Erpenbeck & Gert Wörheide)
Iris Kokkonen
MSc Student 2010

Coral microbiome
Saskia Boerner
MSc-Student 2011

Gazella phylogenetics

(co-supervised with PD Dr. Gertrud Roessner)
Katharina Sacher
MSc Student 2012/2013
Coral Calcification and climate change
Benedikt Kuttner
2010-2014: Student Research Assistant - Aquaria

MSc Student 2014/15
Rapid phylo-diversity assessment of the Kimberley’s Archipelago octocoral fauna

BSc student 2012
Assessment of symbiont diversity in stony corals around Sichang Island, Gulf of Thailand. In collaboration with Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Dr. Susanne Schmitt
(Assistant Professor) 2011/2012
Dr. Tetyana Nosenko
2009-2012: Post-Doctoral Researcher (DFG Project : Wo896/6, SPP1174 Deep Metazoan Phylogeny): Deep non-bilaterian phylogeny.
Now PostDoc in Wolfgang Stephan's group at LMU Biology.
Dr. Nikolaus Császár
(Post-Doc)

Genetics of coral calcification
Dr. Azizur Rahman
(Humboldt Research Fellow, 2009-2012)

Proteomics of biomineralization in soft- and hard corals

from June 2012: Senior Researcher at the University of Hongkong
Dr. Sergio Vargas
(PhD Student 2009-2012)

Evolution and Phylogeography of Antarctic sponges
DFG project Wo896/9-1.

Now back in Costa Rica.
Ratih Aryasari
(PhD student) (Indonesian Government)

Molecular biodiversity and ecology of East-Asian marine invertebrates.
Klementyna Karlinska
PhD Student 2007 - 2013
(DFG: Wo896/7-1 "Deep Downunder" 2008-2010)

Geomicrobiology of coralline sponges

Has a good job in the industry from January 2014.
Dr. Christine Böhmer
PhD student 2010-2013 (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes)

Evo-devo of archaeosaurs

From Feb 2014 Post-Doc in Japan.
Edwin Setiawan
(PhD Student) (DAAD)

Biodiversity and radiation of selected indonesian petrosiid sponges
Paul Klar
Student Reasearch Assistant 2010

Informatics
Philip Comans
Student Research Assistant 2010/2011

Bioinformatics
Dr. Catherine Vogler
(PhD Student 2006-2010, Research Associate 2011)
Dr. Claire Larroux
(Humboldt Research Fellow, 2010/2011)

Evo-Devo of tissue evolution
Benjamin Läuchli
Student Research Assistant 2010
Vincent Eichmann
BSc-Student 2010

Phylogeography of sponges
Julia Almes
MSc-Student 2010

Coral microbiome
Annamarie Gabrenya
Student Research Assistant 2009/2010
Lena Wilde
Student Research Assistant 2009/2010
Janine Arloth
Student Research Assistant 2009/2010
Stephan Lautenschlager
Student Research Assistant 2009/2010
Sarah Adolf
BSc-Student 2010

DNA barcoding of deep-sea organisms
Kristian Karl
MSc-Student 2010

Biomineralisation of Octocorals
Fabian Schreiber
(PhD Student)

Project:
Deep poriferan phylogeny.
DFG project Wo896/6-1.

2010: Post-Doc in Sweden.
Dr. Martin Dohrmann
(Post-Doctoral Researcher)

Phylogeny and Evolution of hexactinellid sponges.

2010/2010 Post-Doc at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC)
Ana Catalan
(Student Research Assistant)
Monica Arias
(Student Research Assistant)
Dr. Nina Yasuda
(JSPS Research Fellow)

Population genetics of Linckia laevigata (blue sea star)
Mehmet Gültas
(Student Research Assistant)
Andreas Dietzel
(BSc candidate)

Project:
DNA barcoding of sponges.
Judith Pöppe
(MSc student)

Project:
DNA barcoding of sponges.
Luciana Macis
(Research Associate)

Project:
Biocalcification in coralline demosponges.
DFG project Wo896/4-1.
Kerstin Morcinek
(MSc student) May 2007-Feb 2008

Project:
Population genetics of crown-of-thorns starfish.
Jana Groeneveld
(Student Research Assistant)
Christine von Leliwa
(BSc student)

Analysis of 10 years Reef Check in the Red Sea

In cooperation with ReefCeck Europe.
Wiebke Kallweit
(Student research assistant)
Christian Menke
(Student research assistant)
Dr. Daniel Jackson
(Postdoctoral Fellow)
August 2005-November 2006.
Project: Biocalcification in coralline demosponges. DFG project Wo896/4-1.
January-December 2007
ARC International Linkage Project:
Evolution of the biofabrication of mineralized structures in animals (with Prof. Degnan, The University of Queensland).
Katja Hunold
(Student Research Assistant)
Eilika Wülfing
(Student Research Assistant)
Ricarda Banse
(Student Research Assistant)
Bastian Bentlage

Project:
Comparative phylogeography of Australasian sponges. MSc project from March 2005 to February 2006.
Now doing a PhD at the University of Kansas, USA.
Julia Goldberg

Project:
Intragenomic variation of the rDNA internal transcribed spacers in sponges (Porifera).
(MSc project from August 2002
to June 2003).
Now doing a PhD in New Zealand.
Anne Müller
(Student Research Assistant)
Laura Epp

Project:
Phylogeography of Indo-Pacific
Leucettidae.
(MSc project from March 2003 to December 2003)
Now doing a PhD in Potsdam and Africa.
 
 
Ludwig-
Maximilians-
Universität
München
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Palaeontology & Geobiology