Group Members

Federica Valerio - Postdoctoral researcher

I graduated from the University of Pavia, Italy, in February 2021.

I will be working on a comparative genomics project using Wolbachia as my study system.

Twitter: @fedevalerio92

Camila S. Beraldo - PhD student

I have a BSc in Biological Sciences (2016) and a MSc in Ecology (2018) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. For my PhD, I work on the diversity, transmission, and evolution of bacterial symbionts in the insect community associated to the ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) in the Aland islands, Finland. To address my goals, I combine fieldwork and experiments in the laboratory with molecular work. I am funded by LUOVA, and co-supervised by Dr. Saskya van Nouhuys from Cornell University, USA.  Twitter: @camilasberaldo

Uxue R. Rodriguez - Research assistant / Master student

I am interested in plant symbiosis, evolution and adaptation. I graduated in genetics in Barcelona last year and join a Master program in plant biology at the University of Helsinki in August 2020. I started in the ISEE lab as a research assistant preparing samples for Metabarcoding of the microbiota associated with four animal species. For my Master thesis, I now study the quadripartite interaction between insect, their symbionts, their host plant, and the pathogens of the host plant.

Project co-supervised by Dr. Hanna Susi from the University of Helsinki.

Twitter: @Urezola

Jenny Malmberg - Master student

I wrote my bachelor thesis on mosquito ecology and strategies to combat malaria. I am intrigued by insect ecology. My Master studies will investigate the effect of male-male competition and sex-ratio distortion on females’ reproductive organs in butterflies.

Project co-supervised by Dr. Pasi Sihvonen from LUOMUS natural history museum,  the University of Helsinki.

Arttu Saarinen - Bachelor student

I studied engineering at Aalto University with a speciality in renewable energy, but switch to Biology studies a few years ago. I am interested in conservation and ecology, with an special interest in plant biology. In the ISEE lab, I will investigate speciation due to Wolbachia in Cotesia parasitoid wasps.

Co-supervised by Camila Beraldo.

Past Members

Mikael Englund - Summership

I joined the ISEE team in the Spring 2020 to complete training in Ecology. I am to collect and investigate symbiotic infections in teh weevil Mecinus pascuorum. After a long career in banking and insurance industries, I have now devoted to my life-long interest in Entomology. I have a Master degree in engineering, and a second one in finance.

Cornelia Martel - Master student

Cornelia completed her Master thesis in 2020, she is interested in phylogenetics. In the ISEE lab she investigated ancestry and the favoured ecological routes of transfer of various endosymbionts between different species of a unique insect community. Stay tuned for publication! Twitter: @cecmartel1

Junchen Deng - Master student

Junchen completed his Master thesis in 2020, and is now a PhD candidate at the Jagiellonski University of Krakow, Poland, in the lab of Piotr Lukasik. In theISEE lab, Junchen investigated the biogeography of Wolbachia in European Damselflies. He was co-supervised by Prof. Erik Svenson from Lund University. Stay tuned for publication! Twitter: @JunchenDeng

Daniel Blande - postdoc

Daniel is a bio-informatician ow working in Kuopio, Finland. In the group, he was in charge of developing methods for metagenome analyses.

Olivera Stojilovic - Intern

Olivera wanted to learn new molecular skills in the lab. She optimised DNA extractions using different protocols. She is currently completing her Master degree in environmental studies and sustainability science at LUCSUS at the department of administrative, economic and social sciences at Lund University. LinkedIn

Aude Giraud - Intern

Aude completed a month internship in the lab right before starting her PhD in Groningen, the Netherlands, on biology and philosophy. Link

Isa Bengzon - Bachelor thesis

Isa completed her Bachelor studies at the Lund University, with a project in the group investigating strain diversity in the Wolbachia infecting Russian Melitaea butterflies. LinkedIn

Meri Lahteenaro - Summership

Meri joined the group in the spring 2017 to complete her training program in Ecology. She investigated the protective role of overwintering nests in the Glanville fritillary  butterfly, Melitaea cinxia. The results of her project were published in the Journal Ecology and Evolution. Meri is currently conducting her PhD studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. webPage

Carolina Sánchez Carpena - ERASMUS

Carolina joined the group in March 2017, for a six month intership. She was an ERASMUS student from Spain. She tested the effect of Wolbachia in Hyposoter horticola in the presence of a fungal pathogen.

Zana Sinko - Professional school lab trainee

Zana worked in the group between April and June 2017. He was in charge of DNA extraction, PCR and qPCRs in the laboratory. He then completed his degree as a laboratory technician.

Ekaterina Pylsy - Professional school lab trainee

Kate completed her school training with us between August and November 2016.

She worked on the microbiota of four arthropods from the Island of Teixeira, Azores. She tested whether habitat degradation is affecting host microbiota composition.

Opinnäytetyö-Ekaterina Pylsy.docx (In Finnish, with Abstract in English)

Shravya Kadali - Master student

Shravya worked on a joint project with Dr. Ayco Tack from the Stockholm University. She was investigating the symbiont community within the insect food-web of oak trees. She is now pursuing her PhD studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Minna Kohonen - Summership

Minna joined the group in the summer 2015 to complete her training program in Ecology. She was in charge of investigating the potential for Wolbachia to protect its host against hyperparasitoid attacks, through both intensive field and lab-work. The results of her project were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Szabolcs Péterfi  - Professional school lab trainee

Szabolcs worked in the lab between February and June 2015. His project investigated geographical and temporal variations of Microsporidia infections in natural populations of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia, in the Åland island.