Education

Priv.-Doz. (Habilitation), University of Vienna, 2021 in Evolutionary Morphology.

Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1996 in Biological Sciences.
Dissertation: Expression of Homeobox Genes in the Axolotl Lateral Line System.

B.Sc., California Institute of Technology, 1986 in Geophysics and Planetary Science.
Emphasis in optics and applied physics.

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Professional Experience

University of Vienna
Senior Scientist, Dept. of Theoretical Biology (permanent contract since Mar 2011).
My main research interests are in using microscopic 3D imaging and analysis to study developmental processes, animal diversity, and diagnostic pathology. I currently carry out research on biological imaging methods and applications, with numerous international collaborations. I supervise the laboratories and various student research projects, and I teach several courses in imaging and scientific writing.

University of Vienna
Assistant Professor (Universitätsassistent), Theoretical Biology (Jul 2006 - Feb 2011).
I established a new microCT lab here and pioneered contrast-enhanced microCT imaging as an essential method in comparative and developmental biology as well as for molecular imaging.

Yale University
Visiting Assistant Professor, with Prof. Günter Wagner (summers, 2002-2005).
Determined 5' Hox gene expression patterns in basal pectoral fins as part of an effort to understand the evolution of tetrapod limbs.

University of Southern Indiana
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology (Aug 2001 - Jun 2006).
Primarily an undergraduate teaching institution with limited allowance for research; taught numerous lecture and lab courses and supervised student research projects.

Penn State University
Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Ken Weiss, Dept. of Anthropology (Aug 1999- Jul 2001).
Research on molecular biology of mammalian dental development.

The Natural History Museum (London)
Postdoctoral Researcher with Dr. Per Ahlberg, Dept. of Palaeontology (Mar 1999 - Aug 1999, May 1998- Nov 1998).
Vertebrate evolution, using phylogenetic frameworks for evolutionary developmental hypotheses, and zebrafish as a laboratory model; origin of caudal fin symmetry in fishes, incorporating developmental morphology and fossil-based evolutionary studies.

University of South Dakota
Postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Paula Mabee, Dept. of Biology (May 1998 - Nov 1998).
Research on programmed cell death in cartilage patterning of zebrafish pectoral fins.

University of California, Irvine
Adjunct Lecturer, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (Oct 1996 - Mar 1997).
Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant in various lab and lecture courses (Sep 1989 - Jun 1996).

University of Colorado, Boulder
Master's work on the detection limits of human colour vision (Sept 1988 - Aug 1989).

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech)
Member Technical Staff (Jun 1986 - Aug 1988).
Research and development of single-photon detectors for laser communication and optical computing for radiofrequency signal processing.

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Projects and awards

Partner in the EU Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN ‘Biosystematics, Informatics and Genomics of the four big insect orders’ (BIG4) international training consortium (2014-2019).

NSF RUI/ROA grants for myself and a student to carry out summer research at Yale University in Prof. Günter Wagner’s lab (2002 and 2005).

University of Southern Indiana, three internal grants for projects involving undergraduate students (2003-2004).

Natural History Museum (London) Museum Research Fund and Palaeontology Research Fund grants for postdoctoral work with Dr. Per Ahlberg and host an international conference (Apr 1997 - Mar 1998 and Mar - Aug 1999).

'Committee of 1000' Graduate Student Fellowship “Homeobox Genes and the Evolution of Vertebrate Morphogenesis” (1993).

Sigma Xi grant-in-aid of research for work on the development and evolution of dentitions (1992).

Development (Company of Biologists) travel fellowship for summer research at the University of Manchester, UK (1992)

NASA Recognition Award for Technical Innovation “Two-Dimensional Acousto-Optic Spectrum Analysis” (1991).

NASA Recognition Award for Technical Innovation “Cooled Avalanche Photodiodes used for Photon Counting” (1987).

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Invited lectures

2018:
Invited speaker, ESA, ESC, and ESBC Joint Annual Meeting, 11-14 Nov., Vancouver, Canada (lecture via webcast).
Instructor, EMBO course "3D Developmental Imaging," 1-9 July, Oeiras, Portugal.

2017:
Invited speaker and participant, Zeiss XEN workshop, NHM London, UK.
Invited seminar, Cambridge University, Dept. of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, 23 Nov.
Keynote lecture and workshop, 5th Tomography for Scientific Advancement symposium (ToScA), 6-8 September, Portsmouth, UK.
Invited speaker, Joint American Association of Anatomists/Anatomical Society meeting "Anatomists on the Edge," 27-29 June, NUI Galway, Ireland.

2016:
Invited speaker and co-host, Zeiss XEN workshop, Vienna. Instructor, EMBO course "3D Developmental Imaging," 1-9 July, Oeiras, Portugal.
Invited speaker, Bridging Nordic Imaging 2nd Symposium, Gothenburg, Sweden.

2015:
The 30th Boris Balinsky Life Sciences Lecture, 53rd annual Microscopy Society of South Africa meeting, Pretoria.
Invited speaker and participant, Zeiss XEN workshop, Manchester, UK.
Invited speaker, Advancing Contrast-enhanced CT Imaging in the Biological Sciences, Austin, TX, USA (lecture via webcast).
Invited speaker, CEITEC/ICRC conference, "Frontiers in Life and Materials Sciences," Brno, Czech Republic.

2014:
Invited speaker and participant, Zeiss XEN workshop, Copenhagen. Instructor, EMBO course "3D Developmental Imaging," 4-12 July, Oeiras, Portugal.
Invited seminar, Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy. Invited speaker, Tomography for Scientific Advancement symposium (ToScA), The Natural History Museum, London.
Invited seminar, School of Materials, University of Manchester, UK.

2013:
Invited speaker and participant, Zeiss XEN workshop, CNRS/CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France.
Invited speaker, Tomography for Scientific Advancement symposium (ToScA), The Natural History Museum, London.
Invited participant, workshop "Modern Taxonomy as a Cyberscience," HCMR, Crete. Co-organiser, workshop on voxel data management and issues, ICVM10, Barcelona.

2012:
Invited speaker, Xradia workshop on 3D X-ray microscopy, ICMCB-CNRS, Bordeaux.
Symposium organizer and invited speaker, Euro Evo Devo meeting, Lisbon.

2011:
Invited speaker, 2nd International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (lecture via webcast).

2010:
Invited speaker, Rank Prize Symposium on High Resolution X-Ray Imaging, U.K.

2009:
Invited speaker, Henry Moseley X-Ray Imaging Facility opening, University of Manchester, UK.