Masters students are encouraged to apply to the lab to carry out their thesis projects. We have supervised a number of masters students in the past, advertising a range of projects about insect ecology and invasion. We typically work with students from the University of Lausanne, but have also taken students from other institutions.
Current Master Students
Cardona Arvela Catarina
I joined the group in 2022 for my first step project with Jérôme Gippet.
First step project title: How do ecological, morphological, and aesthetical characteristics drive consumer preferences on the pet market in ants?
I am now continuing with Jérôme for my Master project.
Master project title: Understanding temporal trends in the emerging global pet trade in ants
Lise Haltinner
I joined the group in 2023 for my Master project with Tristan Klaftenberger.
I am studying the link between ants’ body colour and altitude and time of the day.
Project title: TBD
Hugo Le Lay
I joined the group in 2023 for my Master 1 project with Cleo Bertelsmeier and Olivia Bates.
The aim of my Master project (first year project) is to understand how the wood ant Formica paralugubris warm their nests at the end of winter, and what impact their environment has on this behaviour.
Project title: TBD
First step masters students
10 week projects undertaken in autumn of each year as per the study system at the University of Lausanne.
Previous First step & Masters Students
Mattéo Schweizer
Mattéo is passionate about mammals’ biology and conservation. He joined the group for his Master project in 2022 under the supervision of Jérôme Gippet. He successfully defended his Master in January 2023.
Project title: The unintended consequences of international wildlife trade regulations
Laura Gutierrez
Laura joined the group in 2021 for her first step project with Jérôme Gippet.
Project title: What are the ecological, morphological, and aesthetical characteristics that favor the trade in ants as pets?
Marion L’Huillier-Hunsinger
Marion joined the group in 2021 for her master project, under the supervision of Aymeric Bonnamour.
The goal of her project was to explore the dynamics and trends of the number and composition of alien species which arrived in the United States in the 20th century.
Project title: Patterns of alien species arrival in the United States through global trade in the 20th century
Elsa Östlund
Elsa joined the group in February 2021 for her masters project under the supervision of Olivia Bates.
My project will investigate the extent of niche-shifts in a cross-taxa assessment of invasive alien species. I will look at how common niche-shifts are, compare niche-shifts between different taxa and look at how the results vary depending on the use of different climate data types and resolutions
Project title: Do invasive species colonize novel climates?
Sarah Monod
Sarah joined the group in 2021 for her master project, under the supervision of Gyda Fenn-Moltu.
Sarah worked on traits linked to invasion success in thrips (Thysanoptera), using a comparative approach to study the influence of asexual reproduction and feeding niche during different stages of the invasion process.
Project title: The role of reproductive mode and feeding niche in biological invasions.
Riyo Shiga
Riyo joined the group in 2021 as a first step with Lucie Aulus-Giacosa.
For her project, she investigated how different beta-diversity measures could influence the delineation and definition of bioregions in ants.
Zoé Sherpa
I joined the group in 2020 and did both my first step and master projects with Jérôme Gippet.
For my Master project, I investigated the trade in invertebrates as pets. I was interested in the relationship between the pet trade and the global spread of invasive species.
Project title: Quantifying the global internet trade in invertebrates as pets
During my First Step project, I worked on the spatial-temporal quantification of the online pet trade in ants between 2017 and 2020. Part of this project was used in a paper published in 2023 in the journal Conservation biology!!!
First step project title: The growing global pet trade in ants promotes invasive species.
In 2022, I re-joined the group as a PhD student!!
Nora Khelidj
I joined the group in 2020 for my Master project under the supervision of Tim Szewczyk.
For my project, I worked on different species of ants from the genus Myrmica. I analysed different morphological traits along the elevation gradient. The goal is to investigate how elevation (and climate) affect ants’ morphology.
I am now doing a PhD at the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, at the UNIL.
Aymeric Bonnamour
I joined the group in 2020 for my Master project under the co-supervision of Cleo Bertelsmeier and Jérôme Gippet.
Project title: Assessing the temporal and spatial dynamics of biological invasions in the era of globalization
I modeled the link between the globalization of human activities during the last two hundred years and the introduction of non-native species at global scale. This project was published in Ecology Letters in 2021!!
I am now doing a PhD in the group.
Jérémie Moulin
Jérémie joined the group in the autumn of 2019 for his first step project with Jérôme Gippet.
Project title: The Giant African Land Snail, a new trendy pet with important risks for public health
Jérémie is the founder of the OPPAL, an organisation aiming at facilitating the coexistence of humans and large carnivores in the Swiss Alps.
Charlotte Bergerat
Charlotte joined the group in 2020 for her master project, under the supervision of Jelena Bujan.
Project title: Thermal plasticity of invasive ants
Ellouenne Charavel
Ellouenne joined the group in the autumn of 2019 for her first step project under the supervision of Jelena Bujan.
Project title: Acclimation ability of critical thermal limits in an ant species, Tapinoma magnum, through its invasive and native range.
Her work was part of a paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology in 2020!!
Lorena George
Lorena joined the group in 2019 for her master project with Jérôme Gippet.
Her work focussed on the impacts of the invasive ant Tapinoma magnum on native ant communities in Switzerland. Her master project was published in the journal Biological Invasions in 2022!!