PhD Students
Kristin Szydlik (Vetmeduni ), PhD Student since 2025
Studying life history, movement and ecology in fire salamanders.
Prior to her PhD studies, Kristin conducted her MSc thesis research in our lab , where she was studied fluctuations in body condition across the seasons in male and female fire salamanders.
She is a big fan of outreach activities and in has a soft spot for bees and bats.
Floriana Stanca (Vetmeduni & Vilnius University), PhD Student since 2025
Main supervisor: Andrius Pašukonis
Prior to the start of her PhD, Floriana did her Masters studies in Cognitive Sciences at the University of Neuchâtel, studying Cornish jackdaws. Flo is now doing intensive field studies in French Guiana trying to find out how frogs find water in the rainforest!
Shubham Soni (Vilnius University & Vetmeduni), PhD Student since 2025
Main supervisor: Andrius Pašukonis
Shubham is an ecologist and herpetologist interested in understanding the behavioural processes underlying the evolution of species, particularly amphibians and reptiles. His interests also revolve around understanding the function and evolution of animal colouration in nature, and he is very fond Natural History studies.
Lia Schlippe Justicia (Vetmeduni ), PhD Student since 2021
Enthusiast of animal behaviour, always driven by biodiversity conservation and passionate of field work, Lia’s research focuses on the impacts of different global change drivers, especially habitat disturbance and climate change, on multiple traits of the emblematic poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius. More specifically, she’s interested in the interactions between global change stressors and disease ecology (chytridiomycosis) in this species.
Prior to her PhD studies, Lia conducted her MSc thesis research in the Shine lab in Australia, where she was introduced to the fascinated world of host-parasite interactions by studying the co-evolutionary mechanisms between invasive cane toads and their native parasites. Since then, she developed growing interest for host-parasite systems, and the role of amphibians’ skin microbiome in protecting against diseases.
MSc Students
Paul Kesseler (Vetmeduni ), MSc Student since 2024-2026
“Assessment of mercury contamination in the tadpole-rearing sites of neotropical frogs”
**ALUMNNI**
PhD Students
Cristina Ottocento (U. of Jyväskylä) 2018-2023
Co-supervisors: Johanna Mappes and Emily Burdfield-Steel
After finishing her MSc at the Mappes’ Lab (and getting a cum laude degree for it!), Cristina did her PhD on the role of chemical communication in the divergence process between the European and Caucasian populations of the wood tiger moth. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at INRAE (France).
Chloe Fouilloux (U. of Jyväskylä) 2019-2023
Co-supervisors: Janne Valkonen and Lutz Fromhage
With a very impressive set of internships under her sleeve, such as one at STRI (Panama) with the Warkentin’s Lab and a Fullbright independent research scholarship in Morocco, Chloe came to Jyväskylä to pursue her PhD with us on the evolutionary ecology of tadpole cannibalism in the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius. She defended her PhD Thesis in august 2023, and is currently and NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the Evolutionary Epidemiology Lab, University of Winsconsin. See more here.
Katja Rönkä (U. of Jyväskylä) 2013-2017
Co-supervisors: Johanna Mappes and Niklas Wahlberg
‘Evolution of signal diversity: predator-prey interactions and the maintenance of warning colour polymorphism in the wood tiger moth Arctia plantaginis’. Katja is now doing a postdoc with the “Informed Birds Research Group” at the University of Helsinki.
MSc Students
Kristin Szydlik (U. of Vienna – Vetmeduni), MSc Student 2023-2025
Co-supervisor: Gunther Gollman
Seasonal Changes of Body Condition in a Population of Fire Salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) in Vienna. After finishing her MSc studies at the University of Vienna, Kristin started her PhD with us, at the RojasLAB, also working on fire salamanders.
Léon Koenig (Vetmeduni – Université Paris Saclay, Erasmus Exchange Program), MSc Student 2024
“Morphological and colour pattern variation within and between populations of poison frogs”
After finishing his Masters’ thesis at our lab, Léon returned to France where he is now doing a PhD on ecology of wild bees at the University of ecology of wild bees in Paris-Saclay.
Doriane Hagnier (Vetmeduni – Aarhus University, Erasmus Exchange Program), 2022-2023
Co-supervisor: Carolin Dittrich
Nina Kumpulainen (U. of Jyväskylä), MSc Student since 2019
Co-supervisors: Chloe Fouilloux and Janne Valkonen
Emmi Alanen (U. of Jyväskylä), MSc Student 2019-2020
Co-supervisors: Chloe Fouilloux and Janne Valkonen
“Behavioural consistency in the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius”
Miriam Furlanetto (U. of Padova – U. of Jyväskyla, Erasmus Exchange Program), MSc Student, 2017
Co-supervisors: Emily Burdfield-Steel and Johanna Mappes
‘Investigating the costs of warning signal and chemical defences production in wood tiger moths’. Miriam is now a dedicated high school teacher in her home country, Italy!
Chiara de Pasqual (U. of Padova- U. of Jyväskyla, Erasmus Exchange Program), MSc Student 2015-2016
Co-supervisors: Katja Rönkä and Johanna Mappes
‘Polymorphism in the aposematic wood tiger moth: a possible explanation through the phenomenon of generalisation’. Chiara did her PhD on chemical communication in wood tiger moths at the Mappes’ Lab, and is currently doing a postdoc in Sweden.
Morgan Brain (U. of Jyväskylä), MSc Student 2014-2016
Co-supervisors: Emily Burdfield-Steel and Johanna Mappes
‘Honest signalling in female wood tiger moths’.
Liisa Hämäläinen (U. of Jyväskylä), MSc Student 2013-2014
Co-supervisors: Janne Valkonen and Johanna Mappes
‘Visual illusions in predator-prey interactions: Do stripes create a dazzle effect during movement?’. Liisa did her PhD at Cambridge University (UK), postdocs at Macquarie University and Western Sydney University (Australia), and is currently an Academy of Finland Research Fellow and MSCA Fellow at the University of Jyväskylä. See more about Liisa and her awesome research here.
Jennifer Devillechabrolle (U. of Marseille), MSc Student 2010-2011
Co-supervisors: Jérôme Chave and Elodie Courtois
‘Mise en place et analyse d’un protocole pour le suivi à long terme d’amphibiens en forêt tropicale humide de Guyane Française’. Jen is building an impressive career in conservation, currently being involved with conservation policies at Les Nouragues Reserve (French Guiana).
BSc Students
Anni-Kaisa Jokinen (Vetmeduni – Free University of Berlin, Erasmus Exchange Program), BSc Student 2023
Joan Espigol i Sotelo (U. of Barcelona- U. of Jyväskyla, Erasmus Exchange Program), BSc Student 2021
Tatiana Hernández (Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia), BSc Student 2017- 2019
Main supervisor: Luis Alberto Rueda
Tatiana graduated from his BSc in Biology with a thesis on the function and components of the putative deimatic display in the four eyed frog, Pleurodema brachyops.
Sintana Rojas (Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia), BSc Student 2017- 2018
Main supervisor: Luis Alberto Rueda
Sintana graduated from his BSc in Biology with a thesis on the effects of habitat degradation on the colouration of the Magdalena River tegú.
Mentees
I enjoy mentoring activities and am particularly committed to encourage and support young researchers from Latin America. Mentorship can take the form of field assistantships, reading/editing scientific manuscripts and/or grant proposals, or providing general career advice. Here are two of the super talented #LatinxsInSTEM that I’ve had the privilege to mentor:
Juan David Carvajal-Castro
Shirley Jennifer Serrano-Rojas
Ria Sonnleitner
ROJAS•LAB 