Elisa Schenkel

ProPollSoil, an EU Horizon project involving more than 20 institutions, focuses on the relationships between land use, climate change, and soil properties, and the resulting impacts on soil-dependent pollinators.

My PhD project is embedded in this framework and specifically investigates how extreme weather events affect the development and fitness of ground-nesting wild bees. To this end, bees are exposed to different climatic conditions during their development. To determine whether extreme weather conditions during development influence fitness, I use flight cages.

My previous projects included studying the thermal tolerances of dragonflies as well as the effects of sex ratios on the reproductive behaviour of spiders. After completing my Master’s degree, I made a short detour into the zoo world, where I coordinated collaborations with international conservation projects and expanded environmental education on site.

Research interests: Ecology, biodiversity, climate change, species conservation, arthropods