I am interested in species interactions, and how they influence community structure, ecosystem-level processes, and evolutionary dynamics. In my postdoc project at NTNU, I am studying the invasive species Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). I am investigating how the species has adapted to new conditions since its arrival to Europe. I will also study how environmental conditions and interactions with herbivores and competitors influence the range limits of the species. I work in the group of Bente Graae and in collaboration with Hanne de Kort and Olivier Honnay at KU Leuven.
I studied at the University of Helsinki in Finland and did my PhD at the University of Oxford, UK. During my PhD, I studied the physiological and ecosystem-level effects of insect herbivory on oak trees. I then moved to Switzerland for my first postdoc at ETH Zurich. During my time in Switzerland, I studied how functional traits can be used as predictors of demographic rates in Alpine plant communities under climate warming, and how environmental stress tolerance of tree seedlings relates to distributional limits of adult trees.