Publications
Teaching
The main focus of my teaching is on ecology. At the basic level, I offer various “Ecology and Biodiversity” lectures to students
of biology, veterinary medicine and educational sciences, respectively. At the intermediate level, I conduct a 7-week practical
“Ecology” course in which students work in groups of 2-4 people on research topics that are linked to the projects of my lab. I
also run a journal club on “Controversies in Ecology” and participate in organising two seminar series in “Behaviour, Ecology,
Environment and Evolution”. At the advanced level, I am heading the “Master of Science (MSc) in Biology/Ecology” program.
So far, I have supervised more than 150 MSc and PhD thesis. In all these teaching activities, I practice an interactive style and
encourage students to ask questions and argue critically. From the Bachelor level on, I motivate students to develop their own
ideas for research projects, pursue them with competence, self-confidence and enthusiasm, and publish their results in scien-
tific journals of good standing.
Exhibition “Thre Tree of Life”
(Zurich railway station, 4.-6.9.2009)
Video
Public outreach
Over the years, I have been engaged in a large number
of activities with the aim to bring science to the public.
These activities include talks on animal behaviour,
ecology and evolution, radio interviews, a TV film on
my kingfisher studies, and articles for newspapers and
popular books.
During the Darwin Year 2009, I was a member of the
committee that organised numerous lectures and exhi-
bitions for the public. Details, including several video
streams, can be found under www.darwinyear09.ch
and in numerous press reports.
Video