Hi everyone! My name is Lauren and I am a master student fascinated by animal behaviour. The last six months I had the pleasure of working with Jolle and his three-spined sticklebacks at the University of Konstanz. I studied the effects of individual behavioural tendencies on group learning performance. Different group compositions were tested in a Y-maze to study group learning and reversal learning. I have learned a lot about individual tendencies and group dynamics by observing stickleback behaviour both during experiments and in their housing tanks.

During the first semester of my Masters, I did a research project as part of the Fish Ecology advanced course supervised by  Jolle Jolles and Jasminca Behrmann-Godel. I was interested in the role of individual behavioural types of three-spined stickleback and their effects on individual learning capabilities. Together with another masters student I set-up an experiment with 60 sticklebacks that we tested on some classic personality assays and association and reversal learning tasks. It was a great experience for me and I learned important new methods that are important to run a solid and controlled behavioural experiment.

I am a Master student at the University of Konstanz. During my studies I discovered my fascination for animal behaviour and ecology and developed a particular interest in animal cognition and learning. Therefore, I conducted my Bachelor’s thesis in the Department of Collective Behaviour at the Max Plank Institute for Ornithology looking at group composition and collective problem solving in Zebra Finches. As a part of a master course I decided to do a project with Felicitas under the supervision of Jolle Jolles. Our project is focused on the schooling behaviour of sticklebacks at different light conditions, wondering how they can cope with no visible light available. It is very exciting to work with novel technologies to film and track the fish schools in the dark.

I am a Masters student in Biology with the focus on Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Constance. Before, I  did an internship at the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles where I helped with the conservation and rehabilitation of freshwater turtles and sea turtles. The research project “Schooling in the dark” I am conducting in the JollesLab is part of my Master’s degree. Together with Jana, I will analyse the changes of schooling behaviour in sticklebacks under different light intensities, focusing on the dark. I am very happy to gain insights in the working atmosphere in the lab of Jolle Jolles and the Department of Collective Behaviour, and learn how to set up my own project, run experiments, and conduct analyses in R.

Hello everyone :) ! Like many other people, I really like animals. Therefore, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology (“organisms biology, population, environment”) in France (yes, I’m French!), I took part in many volunteering projects during 6 months, in various safeguarding and reintroduction structures, such as a project in Thailand. Currently, I am a master student in Ethology, animal and human behaviour at the university of Rennes, France. I had the great opportunity to do my first-year internship with Jolle at the University of Konstanz. During my internship I did a mechanistic study of the boldness personality trait and its link to predation risk on three-spined sticklebacks. I had a great time here at Konstanz, I highly recommend it.

Hello I am Alexander Böhm (26). I am currently doing my Masters Thesis about the phenotypic and behavioral changes of cavefish to understand the evolution of their troglomorphic lifestyle. My interests lie in the fields of Behavioural Biology and Marine Biology and especially the development of novel tools for empirical research. I do this by implementing different 3D-printing methods as well as using drones and aerial imagery for complex 3D habitat reconstructions. I am currently also developing small custom electronics for recording and logging both animal and environmental data in the field. In my spare time I build and maintain various aquaria and breed my own corals and am very interested in trying to understand the complex biological and environmental interactions necessary in marine reef ecosystems to ensure their survival in the wild and captivity.

I’m a 21-year-old student in my first year of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution in Rennes (France). I love theoretical ecology, especially when it’s linked to behaviour. Last year, for my bachelor’s thesis, I studied the effect of droughts on the behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon in refuge pools, using a mesocosm for the experiment and automatically recording for the behavioural analysis at INRAE, in Saint-pée-sur-Nivelle. This year, I’m coming to the ABEC lab to understand the effect of individual heterogeneity on within- and among-group dynamics in stickleback groups, using a high-resolution tracking system (Atracker) developed by Jolle Jolles. In the future, I want to become a researcher in behavioural ecology using multiple approaches such as fieldwork, laboratory experiments and modelling.

Hi! My name is Anna Cornet Sanz, and I am currently a master’s student in Biodiversity at the University of Barcelona, specialising in Conservation. I have always been fascinated by animals and conservation, as I believe it is crucial to protect biodiversity for the future of ecosystems. Before starting this Master’s, I studied Biology at the University of Girona, where I did my bachelor’s thesis (TFG) analysing fish genetically, which introduced me to the world of fish, a group of animals I am deeply interested in.

Currently, I am working with the research group of Jolle Jolles, who is my master’s Thesis (TFM) supervisor. My TFM project, titled “Experimental Analysis of Fish Behaviour under Drought Conditions,” focuses on studying how intermittent river states affect fish and how extreme drought conditions influence their behaviour, based on the depth of the pools. I am particularly interested in ecology and fish behaviour and I’m excited to be part of this project. I’m looking forward to learning from this experience and the project ahead, and I look forward to gaining valuable insights into this field.

I am a Master’s student in Ecology, Environmental Management, and Restoration at the Universitat de Barcelona, with a background in Wildlife Management and Conservation. My professional experience spans various roles in conservation and animal welfare project management, where I have worked on rehoming and reintroduction projects for rescued wildlife, coordinated sustainable development funding initiatives, and developed strategic conservation projects. These experiences have strengthened my ability to manage interdisciplinary projects, engage stakeholders, and apply science-driven approaches to conservation challenges.

Over time, I recognized that addressing biodiversity loss requires a broader, ecosystem-level approach, leading me to focus on restoration ecology. My Master’s thesis integrates this perspective by investigating the role of refuge pools in intermittent rivers (IRES) as resources for terrestrial wildlife. Using camera trapping and habitat assessments, I explore how species interact with these temporary water sources throughout the drying cycle, studying their role in sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions. This research supports my broader goal of developing science-based restoration strategies that enhance ecosystem resilience, bridging my background in conservation with applied ecological restoration.

With a background in Environmental Science from the University of Barcelona, I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Management at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). During my studies, I had the opportunity to collaborate in the Wildlife Genomics research project at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) with Dr. Anton Lavrinienko, studying gut microbiota differences in bank voles across rural and urban populations through seasonal temperature fluctuations. This experience strengthened my passion for research and fieldwork, reinforcing my interest in animal responses to environmental change.

As part of my MSc thesis, I am excited to be joining the Animal Behaviour and Environmental Change (ABEC) Lab at the CSIC Centre for Advanced Studies Blanes (CEAB) under the supervision of Dr. Jolle Jolles. My research focuses on understanding how fish cope with drying and environmental change through a laboratory-based approach. By simulating drying conditions, I aim to investigate both individual and social behavioral responses to water scarcity, linking these mechanisms to phenotypic traits and social interactions.