Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Protist diversity and ecology
- Evolution of eukaryotic cells
- Metabolism in plastids & mitochondria
- Photosynthesis
- Origins of parasitism
Research projects
Active projects
Publications
Biography
Since my undergraduate studies at the University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic, I have had great appreciation for organismal diversity and evolution. My Master research was on Chromera velia (then newly-found microscopic alga related to apicomplexan parasites) revealed to me that protists are great models for cell evolution and a treasure trove for new discovery. I continued to study the origins of parasitism in Apicomplexa during my Phd in Evolutionary microbiology at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 2013. My subsequent work under independent fellowships at San Diego State University and University College London (2014-2019) included uncovering new groups of eukaryotes and understanding plankton evolution. More recently, I have become interested in ecology and metabolism of protists at the cellular level and their environmental significance. In January 2021, I started a research group at the Institute of Microbiology Trebon, Czechia, which I now co-lead with Eva Horakova. I joined the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton in December 2021. I keep sharing my passion for single-celled algae, parasites, and heterotrophs with my students through research and teaching.