Research experience and projects
2024 - ongoing Temple University
Project: Forecasting functional biodiversity change with satellite remote sensing and modeling. Position: Research assistant professor
2019 - 2023 Aarhus University
Project: Explaining the biological hyperdiversity of Tropical rainforests using the Tree of Life (TropiToL). Position: Postdoctoral researcher
2018 - 2019
Project: Amphibian monitoring Nimba Mountains, Guinea Project: Tipping points in habitat type influence on extinction risk in deep time
2014 – 2018 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin | Museum für Naturkunde
Doctoral thesis with Dr. Mark-Oliver Rödel
Project: Combining paleontological and neontological data to assess the extinction risk of amphibians
2017 Museum für Naturkunde
Project: Linking climate trends with the amphibian fossil record
2017 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Project: In vitro early tests on drought tolerance of somatic seedlings
2012 - 2013 Museum für Naturkunde
Research assistant with Dr. Wolfgang Kießling
Project: Geographic range dynamics of marine taxa
2011 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin | Museum für Naturkunde
Graduate student with Wolfgang Kießling
Project: Geographic range dynamics of marine gastropods - an attempt to predict future geographic ranges
2008 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Undergraduate student with Bernhard Ronacher
Project: Influence of missing parts on human pattern recognition as revealed by multidimensional scaling
Student assistant with Bernhard Ronacher
Project: Navigation and 3-D spatial orientation of desert ants (Tunisia)
Education
2014 – 2018 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin | Museum für Naturkunde
Thesis title: Combining paleontological and neontological data to assess the extinction risk of amphibians
Degree: Dr. rer. nat., summa cum laude
2008 – 2011 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Study of Organismic Biology and Evolution
Degree: Master of Science, 1.3 (very good)
2005 – 2008 Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Study of Biology
Degree: Bachelor of Science, 2.3 (good)
Languages
German (first language)
English (business fluent)
French (basic knowledge)
Grants
MfN Innovationsfond (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, institute internal grant): Linking climate trends with the amphibian fossil record
Fellow Program Open Science by Wikimedia and Stifterverband: Opening up science
Travel Grant Progressive Palaeontology Conference 2016
Elsa Neumann Fellowship of the state of Berlin: A paleontological-zoological analysis of the influence of traits on the extinction risk of amphibians
IT skills
Advanced knowledge
R programming language (Data analysis, visualization (ggplot), statistics, modeling, Markdown)
Microsoft Office, Libre Office
Typesetting language LaTeX
Mendeley and BibTeX
Basic knowledge
BEAST, Tracer, Mesquite, GPlates
Image editing with Photoshop, GIMP, Inkscape, Illustrator
QGIS
HTML
2024 Melanie Tietje
Last update:
Social commitment
2014 - 2017: Elected part of the representation of doctoral students at the Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity