PEAK-Expert
Bettina Thalinger
Focus
MOLECULAR ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Contact
E-Mail:
bettina.thalinger@uibk.ac.at
Phone:
+43 512 507 51893
Web:
Applied Animal Ecology Research Unit
Personal Website
Speaks: German, English
Bettina Thalinger is a Senior Scientist at the Applied Animal Ecology Research Unit (Department of Zoology) at the University of Innsbruck. The detection of trace amounts of DNA in environmental samples (eDNA) lies at the centre of her research. She is currently leading the transnational Biodiversa+ project eWHALE, which uses non-invasive methods to collect data on cetacean populations and marine biodiversity in European seas. Additionally, she leads the University of Innsbruck Team in an Austrian-wide project striving to unite conventional and DNA-based biodiversity data.
Focus-Cloud: Environmental DNA, biodiversity, conservation, ecology, birds, fishes, marine organisms, environmental samples, Citizen Science
About
Molecular ecologist Bettina Thalinger earned her PhD in biology at the University of Innsbruck with a thesis on the feeding ecology of cormorants. Over the last years, as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Innsbruck and at the University of Guelph in Canada, she has been primarily working with fishes, birds, and, more generally, with species of conservation concern. She works in particular with DNA metabarcoding, among other molecular methodsto support conservation and management efforts. Her research projects connect large field campaigns with laboratory work under clean room conditions. She often works at the interface between science, stakeholders and the general public, her latest project also pursues a strong citizen science approach.