I am a wildlife ecologist interested in the behavioural and community ecology of African mammals, as well as in conservation biology. Since my Bachelor’s studies in Biology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, I have focused on how African mammals’ use of physical and ecological space, including landscape features, changes with season, interspecific interactions, and environmental factors. I am a member of the EcoSpace Research Group led by Prof. David Hořák, under whose supervision I completed both my Bachelor’s and Master’s studies in Ecology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
For my PhD, I joined the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, where I study how seasonality affects resource use by large mammals in the Afrotropics. Together with my supervisors, Prof. David Hořák and Dr. Tomáš Jůnek, and with external collaborators, I explore the seasonal drivers of species’ diel activity at resources, their space use, and interspecific associations. My work spans several study areas, including Mogalakwena River Reserve and Kruger National Park in South Africa, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Messok Dja in the Republic of the Congo.
Professionally, I am interested not only in the ecological processes shaping these systems but also in the statistical approaches best suited to answering complex ecological questions. I am also exploring the role of AI in ecological research and wildlife monitoring. Additionally, I am an active science communicator, working to make science accessible to the general public.
Project
I was awarded the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and, in September 2026, joined the PopEcol group for one year with a project titled “Scaling Biotic Associations Across Space and Time: An Integrated Approach to African Carnivore Communities”. As a part of the Wild Dog Project team, under supervision of prof. Arpat Ozgul and in collaboration with Botswana Predator Conservation, I will explore how predator co-occurrence varies in space and time across the Okavango Delta, using existing camera trap data and Bayesian occupancy modelling. The project aims to contribute to ecological theory by examining how species associations scale, and to deepen our understanding of the community and behavioural ecology of the Okavango Delta’s predators. Additionally, a practical understanding of the scaling mechanisms behind species associations can inform wildlife management and conservation.
CV
- September 2026 – August 2027, Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship, Research Fellowship
- 2024 – present, PhD candidate, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague
- 2024 – present, Science Communicator, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague
- June – December 2023, internship/volunteership, Kalahari Research Centre, Cape Ground Squirrel Project
- 2021 – 2024, MSc. in Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague
- 2018 – 2021, BSc. in Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague
- 2019 – 2026, guide and lecturer, Prague Zoo