Current position
2024-2025

Temporary Teaching and Research Assistant [ATER]
at the University of Montpellier

Affiliated laboratory: Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier - ISEM

Professional activities

Jun. 2022 - Jun. 2024 - PostDoc Swedish Museum of National History

Fundings: Awarded my personal research grant from Carl Tryggers Stiftelse foundation [CTS21: 1585]
Topic: Using gall-richness in fossil leaf assemblages as a proxy for the development of sclerophyllous vegetation
”Supervisor“: Dr. Thomas Denk

Jan. - Jun. 2022 - Part-time lecturer University of Montpellier

Fundings: Freelance entrepreneur
Teaching areas: Preparation of a response to a public tender in ecology; Paleoecology

Sep. 2020 - Dec. 2021 - Digital Project Manager

Fundings: Freelance entrepreneur
Topic: Project Manager / Digital consulting.
Context: During the Covid pandemic, I transitioned to the private sector as a digital project manager (mostly within a company called FrenchApp&Web), where I led customer projects, managed teams, and earned certifications in Google® and Shopify®. This experience enhanced my skills in communication, networking, and securing non-academic funding. It now supports my ability to foster international collaborations and effectively engage with diverse audiences.

Mar. 2020 - Aug. 2020 PostDoc Swedish Museum of National History

Fundings: Swedish Research Council
Topic: Trophic structure on terrestrial ecosystems in Miocène. Case of Güvem (Turkey) and Bilina (Czech).
Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Denk

early 2020 - Part-time lecturer University of Warsaw

Topic: Development of the cross-teaching unit about the evolution of the herbivory through the geological time and their inputs in research as a proxy.
Context: Due to COVID, the lectures did not fully attempt.

Jan. 2019 - Jan 2020 - PostDoc Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology

Fundings: NIGPAS Chinese Academy of Sciences
Topic: Paleoforest in China (Miocene): herbivory traces on macroflora; Parrotia biogeography history in Eurasia
Supervisor: Prof. Wang Bo

Education

  • Topic: Structures of European paleoforests from the late Cenozoic: input from plant-insect interactions.
    Supervisors: PD Dr. Torsten Wappler, Prof. Jean-Frédéric Terrak
    Work: Museum collection, fossil and modern fieldworks, photography, statistics, leaf measurements, Plant-insect interactions analyzes
    Collaboration: collaboration with Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
    Grant: DFG-project grant no WA 1492/8-1 ; 11-1.
    Mention: “magna cum laude” (1.3)

  • Internship 6 months et Miami University, Currano Lab, USA
    Topic: Herbivory on the fossil leaf record of Mush Valley, Oligocene, Ethiopia. Museum collection, Fossil chemical preparation
    Work: Museum collection, Developpement of Plant-insect interactions analyzes, epifluorescence analyzes
    Additional partner: National Museum of Natural History Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

  • Internship 3 months - Centre de Bio-Archéologie et Ecologie, Montpellier, France
    Topic: Herbivory on the fossil leaf record of Bernasso, France (Pleistocene).
    Work: First initiation of the plant-insect interactions and their identification.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Skills & Expertises

Keywords

Paleoecology ; Plant-insect interactions ; Herbivory; Luminescence ; Galls ; Plant biodiversity ; Plant Biology ; Structures of ecosystems ; Biostatistics ; Relict plant species

Methods & Lab’

Guide of plant-insect interactions ; Plant taxonomy identification ; Binocular and Microscopy analyses ; Palynology ; Specific technic of photography ; Hydrofluohydric acid methods ; spectral imaging ; epifluorescence ; Paleoclimate reconstructions methods

Additional skills

Français (évidemment) ; English (sure!) ; Español (menos bien que ingles y frances) ; Deutsch (Ich habe es vergessen) ; Projet management; Speaker; Digital Communication ; Design ; International project supervisor ; Photography ; Travel expat; Founder of Social-Humanitarian association ; Head of international Scientific project; High-tech ; President of AprèsLaThèse podcast show

Fieldwork & Museum

Technic photography ; Fossil collection management ; Development of new sampling protocol ; Fieldwork organization (fossil and modern) ; Technics of fossil excavation ; Technics of modern leaf sampling

Digital skills

Codes: R, Python, HTML, CSS, ‘SQL’, Fluid®
Softwares: IA engineering, Q-GIS, Fiji, Adobe®, Notion®, Office®

Professional & Academic services

Editorial Work & Symposium

Frontiers Ecology & Evolution

Organizer of a symposium at IPC/IOPC 2024

Review work

  • Peer review of multiple scientific articles for the following journals: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology ; Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology ; PlosOne ; Palaeoworld ; Royal Society Open Sciences ; Geological journal ; Integrative and comparative biology ; Geological Journal ; Global Planetary Change ; Journal of Asian Earth Sciences ; Ecological Indicators ; Grana ; Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments; Flora

  • Research project evaluator for: Sepkoski Grant application ; European Commission ; FNRS, F.R.S.-FNRS, Belgium ; Narodowe Centrum Nauki, Poland .

Member of scientific groups and associations

  • IAVS - International Association for Vegetation Science, team Ecological history of plants 

  • NECLIME - Neogene Climate Evolution in Eurasia

  • ODS Provence - Observatoire des Saisons, Provence, Aix-Marseille Université

Projet scientifique dans lesquels j’ai été

  • BELAB Projet - Predation risk for insects living in different strata: A globally distributed experiment with standardized live prey (2025), Lead: Mikhail V. Kozlov and Elena L. Zvereva, Contribution: Experimental fieldwork.

  • The challenges of living in soil: Why plant roots are underexploited by herbivorous insects? (2025), Lead: Dr. Mikhail Kozloz, Contribution: Planned experimental fieldwork.

  • HERBIX - Herbivory Evidence and Response to Biotic Interactions illuminated by X-ray fluorescence mapping (Synchrotron-Puma) (2024), Lead: Dr. Benjamin Adroit

  • The Herbivory Network (2024-2026), Lead: Dr. Will Wetzel, Contribution: Herbivory measurements on Mediterranean field sites.

  • METAP - Manipulative Experiments: Trees, Arthropods, Predators (2024), Lead: Dr. Anna Mrazova, Contribution: Follow-up of my experimental fieldwork in Provence.

  • Mid-Miocene floristic changes and differentiation patterns (2022/2023), Lead: Dr. Fridgeir Grímsson, Contribution: Palynological analysis of European fossil deposits.

  • ZELKOVA (NHMF, Switzerland) (2019/2021), Lead: Prof. Gregor Kozlowski, Contribution: Fieldwork in Crete and fossil knowledge support on the Zelkova genus.

  • EOT Climate (TELLUS, CNRS) (2020), Lead: Dr. Séverine Fauquette, Contribution: Identification of herbivory pattern changes on European localities around the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

  • Molasses Miocene Basin (DFG, Germany) (2019), Lead: Dr. Torsten Wappler, Contribution: Identification of plant-insect interactions in fossil deposits around the Oligo-Miocene transition.

Mentorship of students

  • 2024 - Imre Gyökeres (PhD) - Plant-insect interactions in the Paleogene and Neogene of Hungary - University of Debrecen - Supervisor: Dávid Árpád. Supervision 50%: plant-arthropod interactions, statistics.

  • 08/02/2023 - PhD Examiner - Artai Antón Santos López - University of Vigo: New palaeobotanical contributions to the Jurassic of northern Iberian Peninsula: palynostratigraphical and palaeoecological insights.

  • 2023 - Charlie Pasquier (Master 1) - Fluorescence on different stages of leaf decomposition - IPANEMA - Supervisor: Mathieu Thoury. Supervision 20%: introduction to botany and plant physiology.

  • 2022 - Samuel Biz (Master 1) - Plant-insect interactions in the fossil leaf deposit of Monastier-sur-Gazeille, Auvergne - University of Montpellier - Supervisor: Vincent Girard. Supervision 50%: fieldwork, plant-arthropod interactions, statistical analyses, photography, assistance in writing the internship report.

  • 2021 - Antoine Vite (Master 1) - Visualizing enhanced generic markers of anatomical and biomolecular expression in ancient plant specimens - IPANEMA & Seckenberg, Frankfurt - Supervisor: Mathieu Thoury. Supervision 30%: introduction to paleobotany, photography.

  • 2020/21 - Pénélope Claisse (Master 1) - Comparative study of herbivory traces from two collections of the macroflora of Menat, France (Paleocene) - MNHN - Supervisor: André Nel. Supervision 50%: plant-arthropod interactions, macroflora identification, photography, statistics, assistance in writing the internship report.

  • 2018/19 - Xin Zhuang 庄欣 (Master 2) - Differentiation of hereditary characters caused by geographical isolation in Parrotia subaequalis - Nanjing University (China) - Supervisor: Zhongsheng Wang. Supervision 30%: leaf trait analyses, statistics, fieldwork in the Yixing forest, China.

  • 2016/18 - Mahdieh Malekhosseini (Master 1&2) - Herbivore density and leaf damage on Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) in the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forest - University of Bonn (Germany) - Supervisor: Torsten Wappler. Supervision 80%: protocol development, forest fieldwork, macroflora identification, plant-insect interaction identification, photography, statistics, assistance in writing the Master thesis and presentations.

    —

  • 2021 - Marine Lapuyade (Master) - Digital project management - Supervision 80% during my year as a digital project manager.

  • 2021 - Stella Ferreira (Master) - Commercial and marketing management - Supervision 80% during my year as a digital project manager.

Note: During my year in the private sector as a digital project manager, I had the opportunity to supervise two students in work-study programs.

Teaching Topics

I have taught over 300 hours in ecology, morphology-anatomy, evolution, plant and animal biology, paleontology, and scientific communication at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Most of this experience was gained at the University of Montpellier, complemented by teaching roles at Aix-Marseille University and internationally at Stockholm University, University of Warsaw, University of Bonn, and Nanjing University.

Below, a little bit of some fieldworks & work in collections

  • Bursa, Turkey [Fieldwork]

    Sampling leaves (litter and trees) from Fagaceae trees (Quercus, Fagus) in different locations subdivsied into different sites in the district of Bursa; Mediterranean environments. Measurements of herbivory and galling damages.

  • Museo Giuseppe Scarabelli, Italy [Collection]

    Photography collection of Senigallia (Pliocene) macrofossil specimens for plant-insect interactions and taxonomy studies

  • Saint-Michel-l’Observatoire, France [Fieldwork]

    Collecting leaves from the trees and the litter of Quercus pubescens. Measurements of herbivory and galling damages.

  • Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, China [Collection]

    Working on Namling (Miocene) fossil leaf collection on plant-insect interactions and biogeography of Parrotia genus

  • National History Museum of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [Collection]

    Working on Mush Valley (Miocene) fossil leaf collection for plant-insect interactions identification

  • Geoscience center of the University of Göttingen, Germany [Collection]

    Main collection work during my PhD thesis about plant fossil specimen from Willershausen and Berga (Pliocene)

  • Bernasso (Pleistocene), France [Fieldwork]

    Sampling of fossil leaves from lacustre sediment, then working on plant-insect interactions

  • Genoa, Italy [Fieldwork]

    Sampling leaves (litter and trees) from Oak trees (Quercus) in different sites related to Mediterranean environments.

    Measurements of herbivory and galling damages.

  • Yixing forest, China [Fieldwork]

    Collect fresh leaves from Parrotia subaequalis for a DNA work.