Academic employments  

Feb 2023 Full Professor of Molecular Natural History, Globe Institute

2020–present Deputy Head of Department for Research, Globe Institute

2020–2023 Associate Professor, Globe Institute

2015–2019 Associate Professor, Curator of Mammalogy, Natural History Museum of Denmark, UCPH

2011–2015 Postdoc, Dept of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley | Rasmus Nielsen lab

2009–2011 Postdoc, DNRF Centre for GeoGenetics, UCPH | Eske Willerslev lab

Education

2009 PhD in Biology, UCPH 

2003 MSc in Biology, UCPH

Career breaks

2019–2020 Maternity leave 41 weeks (third child)

2018–2019 Maternity leave 42 weeks (second child) 

2013–2014 Maternity leave 51 weeks (first child)

Academic leadership

Research group leader of ‘Molecular Ecology and Global Climate Change group’ since 2015; I have supervised 10 postdocs (4♀, 6♂, 3 ongoing), 4 PhD students (1♀, 3♂, 2 ongoing), 8 MSc students (6♀, 2♂), 5 Bsc students (2♀, 3♂), 4 Erasmus students (4♀)

PI of research grants totalling 36 Mkr, incl. Carlsberg Foundation Semper Ardens Accomplish (2023); EliteForsk (2023); Villum Foundation Young Investigator Programme extension YIP+ (2021); Sapere Aude: DFF-Starting Grant (2019) DFF-FNU Research Project 1 (2018); Carlsberg Foundation Semper Ardens Accelerate (2016); Villum Foundation Young Investigator Programme YIP (2015) 

Host and PI of internationally funded Postdoctoral Fellowships totalling ~5 M DKK, incl. H2020-MSCA-IF-2020; Greenland Research Council; Dutch Research Council 

Early career independently funded research fellowships totalling ~3.3 M DKK incl. Marie Curie IOF (2011); DFF-FNU postdoc (2009); UCPH Faculty of Science PhD Fellowship (2005)

Formal training incl. Research Management Course at CBS Executive; UCPH Forward Talent Programme for Excellence in Research; LUKU3 Research Leadership and Management (UCPH); Women, Career and UCPH

Experience from the private sector as freelance Process Consultant (2007–2009); Instructor in the teambuilding industry (2001-2011); Tour Leader for the Danish company Albatros Travel, leading tours to African destinations, incl. Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe (2006-2009)

Honours and recognition

• EliteForsk Prize (2023)
• Fellow of the The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (KDVS) (2022)
• Fellow of the first cohort of the UCPH Forward Talent Programme for Excellence in Research (2019)
• Fellow of the The Young Academy of KDVS (2013-2018)
• Research featured in several text books, incl ‘Evolution: Making Sense of Life 2nd edition’ (2016) by Zimmer and Emlen; ‘Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology 4th edition’ (2015) by Feldhammer et al.
• Profiled by Science Magazine as part of their special issue on Ancient DNA (2015)
• Recipient of the UNESCO-L’Oreal For Women in Science Denmark prize (2012)

Commissions of trust  

Invited expert: NAMMCO [North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission] Scientific Committee on narwhals (2019, 2021); IUCN-SSC [World Conservation Union-Species Survival Commission] Conservation Genetics Specialist Group] (2021); South African National Biodiversity Institute’s Alien Species Risk Assessment Review Panel (2020);  NAMMCO Joint Scientific Working Group on Narwhal and Beluga (2017) 

Board member of WWF Denmark (2018-present); NORRØN A/S (2023-present)

Member of IUCN-SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008-present) and  Equid Specialist Group (2008-2012)

International peer review activities

Grant reviewer for Academy of Sweden (2024 - panel member); Academy of Finland (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 - panel member); ERC Consolidator Grant Call (2021), German Research Foundation (DFG) (2019); South African National Research Foundation (NRF) (2016); French National Research Council (ANR) (2013, 2016) 

Journal peer reviewer of 32 different journals to date, incl. Cell, Genome Research, Global Change Biology, MBE, Molecular Ecology, Nature Ecology & Evolution, Nature Climate Change, PNAS, Proceedings B

PhD thesis reviewer and examiner of 19 PhD theses, incl. Bangor Uni (2017), Uni of Adelaide (2020, 2022), Uni of Cambridge (2022), Uni of Johannesburg (2017), Uni of Groningen (2017), Uni of Oslo (2022), Uni of Potsdam (2017), Uni of Sevilla (2017), Natural History Museum Paris (2019), NTNU (2022)

Departmental citizenship at UCPH (only key contributions listed)

• Member of FSU [Faculty Collaboration Committee], leadership representative (Feb 2022–Aug 2023)
• Deputy Head of Department for Research (VILF), Globe Institute (Oct 2020–present)
• Elected faculty VIP representative on LSU [Local Collaboration Committee] (2016–2019)
• PhD coordinator of 16 PhD students (2016–2019)

Media and public outreach

• Often participate in radio and TV interviews, incl. DR P1 Hjernekassen, DR P1 Morgen, DR P1 Videnskabsmagasinet, DR2 Dagen, Radio4, TV2 News. 
• Often participate in science-focused podcasts, incl 24 spørgsmål til professoren, DR P1 Vildt Naturligt, Videnskab.dk Vov at vide.
• Columnist in the Danish weekly newspaper Weekendavisen.
• Often invited to participate as speaker and panelist at science and outreach events for the general public, e.g. Bloom, School Bloom, FOF, Folkemødet Bornholm, Forskningens Døgn, Folkeuniversitetet.   

Research featured in The Atlantic, BBC, DR Nyheder, Inside Science (syndicates for Fox News and Discovery News), Live Science (syndicates to MSNBC, Yahoo and other partners), front page of New York Times, Ritzau, Ræson, Politiken, The Independent, USA Today, Washington Post.   

The main focus of my research is molecular ecology of large mammals (megafauna), and I am broadly interested in how climate change, environmental shifts, and human impact have affected the past and present abundance, distribution and evolution of megafauna species and communities. So far, my work has encompassed three overall areas: (i) continental-scale biogeography, (ii) past demographic inference using ancient DNA, and (iii) demographic inference and signals of natural selection using population genomics. 

Research areas: Molecular ecology, biogeography, population genomics, demographic reconstruction, selection and adaptation, ancient DNA, palaeoecology, conservation genetics, megafauna  

Please find additional information on my group website