I'M
Sven
WEber
Biologist (M.Sc.)
Skills
Ecology
​ terrestrial ecology
Taxonomy
classical & molecular
Bioinformatics
Pearl and R
Arachnids
european spiders & Theraphosidae​​​​​​
ABOUT
me
Sven Weber
Scholarship 2021-2023
PhD 2019 ff.
Master Thesis 2019:
Bachelor Thesis 2017:
I'm Sven, a Biologists from Germany. My interest lies completely in the field of studying arthropods. Coming from a genetic and plant based education at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, I want to combine the newest molecular methods and my love for field work and critters to investigate open questions in the field of phylogeny, ecology and evolution.
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At the moment I'm doing my PhD at the University Trier under the supervision of Jun. Prof. Dr. Henrik Krehenwinkel.
Since January 2021 I'm a scholar of the DBU.
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The aim of our work is an evaluation of biodiversity changes in arthropods communities in Germany by analyzing environmental-DNA. The project will cover a time span of over 30 years and uses second and third generation sequencing technologies to analyse the proposed insectageddon.
Skills
MY SKILLS AND EXPERTISE
PCR
75%
PHYLOGENENETICS
70%
PROGRAMMING (R)
TAXONOMY SPIDERS
75%
95%
TAXONOMY CARABIDS
70%
ARTHROPOD BREEDING
95%
GENETICS
85%
FIELD WORK
95%
TEACHING
95%
Experience
2021
PhD SCHOLARSHIP
My PhD project will be supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). With the funding I'm able to approach my ideas from even more angles to shed some light to the reasons of the insect decline. I hope my PhD project will contribute to environmental protection and better monitoring approaches.
2020
PhD PROJECT
Retrospective, eDNA-based monitoring of canopy associated arthropod communities (Germany)
Anthropogenic stress significantly influences biodiversity. Scientists are researching the proposed insectageddon to identify the main drivers of the decline. However, there are almost no time series available that could give insights for the true factors of the most recent events. The German Environmental Specimen Bank (GESB) has been collecting a variety of samples for over 35 years until the present day. Our special interest lies in the GESB`s leaf samples consisting of the four most abundant tree species in Germany. We developed a method based on the leaf samples´ environmental DNA to analyze the changes in arthropod communities to get an overview of the actual processes. Furthermore, the samples will be tested for over 300 different components such as pesticides or toxins. Our future goal is to use the generated data to determine the stressors of the arthropod communities in Germany and to develop a practical method of eDNA monitoring for arthropods.
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Overview of spider populations over two decades in western Germany
In this thesis, spider populations of 20 locations were observed for 7 months and compared to older records. The result will present the development of spider populations in the past 25 years.
2019
MASTER'S THESIS
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2016
Cork oak disease
Field study for sampling plant and soil material to find correspondence between the microbiome of healthy and ill or dead trees. The idea was that protists or oomycetes possibly could be one factor for the spreading disease and its quick lethality.
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2017
BACHELOR'S THESIS
Heavy metal tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana
In this project, A. thaliana "Col-0" seeds were grown on various soils that had been collected throughout NRW and which differed in their heavy metal content. An highly unequal growth was observed and compared.
Contact
Hey!
Feel free to contact me!​
Or send an e-mail directly to:
sven.weber@hhu
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