CV

Highlights from my CV. The full version also lists earlier talks, posters, workshops and skills.

Full CV (PDF)

Positions

  • 2024–now Postdoctoral researcher, Brown Lab, Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA Microbial dynamics and infection, host–pathogen interactions, disease dynamics, antimicrobial resistance.
  • 2021–2024 Postdoctoral researcher, Lennon Lab, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN Microbial ecology and evolution, bioenergetics, dormancy. GEMS (Genomics and Eco-evolution of Multi-scale Symbioses) trainee.
  • 2019–2021 Postdoctoral researcher, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany Evolutionary ecology, species interactions, fluctuations, antimicrobial resistance. yDiv trainee.
  • 2005–2018 Earlier research positions Research assistant at UFZ and iDiv (Leipzig), University of Thessaly (Greece), University of Bayreuth and Cumhuriyet University (Turkey); internships at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (Tübingen) and the Technical University of Munich.

Education

Funding and awards

  • 2025 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Eco-evolutionary processes govern clinical responses to antibiotics and the failure of susceptibility testing in people with CF.
  • Earlier iDiv FlexPool funding for postdoctoral research · DAAD travel scholarship (two months of research in Greece) · HIGRADE (PhD), yDiv (PhD) and GEMS (postdoc) traineeships · Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences travel award · Elite Network Bavaria support for internships, courses, conferences and research

Talks and posters

  • 2026 Invited talk. Antibiotic-driven resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa follows nonlinear, state-dependent dynamics in people with cystic fibrosis. North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, Atlanta, GA
  • 2026 Invited talk. Rethinking resistance: signal, noise and heterogeneity in antimicrobial susceptibility testing of cystic fibrosis Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Conference, Colorado Springs, CO
  • 2026 Poster. A multi-method statistical framework for quantifying antibiotic-driven resistance evolution in Pseudomonas aeruginosa among people with cystic fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Conference, Colorado Springs, CO
  • 2026 Poster. From patterns to processes: meta-analysis and experiments reveal cumulative damage drives infection-induced mortality. Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease (EEID), Blacksburg, VA
  • 2025 Talk. Disentangling host, pathogen, and interaction effects on infection-induced mortality. Evolution, Athens, GA
  • 2025 Poster. Dynamics of death: why and when a host dies during infection. Gordon Research Conference, Microbial Population Biology, Andover, NH
  • 2023 Talk. Evolution of complex traits through the lens of bioenergetics. ESA Annual Meeting, Portland, OR
  • 2023 Poster. Evolution of survival through the lens of bioenergetics. AbGradCon, San Diego, CA

Earlier talks and posters (2014–2021) are in the full CV.

Teaching

  • 2025, 2026 BIOL 3400: Introduction to Mathematical Biology (undergraduate), Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2021–2023 Quantitative Biodiversity (graduate), Indiana University
  • 2022–2023 Practical research training for microbiology graduate rotation students and biology undergraduates, Indiana University
  • 2020–2021 Literature seminar: Microbial Ecology, Leipzig University
  • 2018–2021 Practical training: measuring microbial diversity, experimental evolution, R for data science, Leipzig University
  • 2005–2008 Practical courses in general biology, genetics, biochemistry, animal physiology, microbiology and molecular cell biology, Cumhuriyet University

Activities, worksheets and R scripts from my courses are on GitHub.

Mentoring

  • 2026–now Undergraduate research thesis: antimicrobial resistance in people with cystic fibrosis Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2025–now Undergraduate lab training and research credit (three students): microbiology, biochemistry, experimental evolution Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2025–2026 M.Sc. Bioinformatics: evolutionary game theory models of host–pathogen coevolution Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2025 Undergraduate summer research: wet-lab methods in microbial ecology and evolution Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2024–2025 Undergraduate research thesis: accelerating mortality driven by pathogen burden and host damage Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2024–2025 Undergraduate research: biofilm formation and antimicrobial activity of synthetic polymers Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2023–2024 B.Sc. research: microcosms and experimental evolution Indiana University
  • 2023 Summer research: microbial division of labor under ecological disturbances Indiana University Summer STEM Research Program
  • 2022 Summer internship: stability of metabolic exchange and dormancy Student from Middle East Technical University
  • 2020–2021 Two B.Sc. projects: environmental noise and antibiotic and phage resistance evolution; fitness costs of antibiotic resistance Leipzig University
  • 2018–2020 Internship and M.Sc. thesis: evolutionary rescue in complex communities Leipzig University
  • 2014 Internship: predator–prey interactions under disturbances Student from the University of Kassel

I have also mentored PhD projects at Oregon State University, the University of Toulouse and Leipzig University, a B.Sc. project at Leipzig University, and a high-school research project (OPRFHS, Chicago).

Service and leadership

  • 2026–now Faculty Liaison, and Belonging and Outreach Teams, Georgia Tech Postdoctoral Association
  • 2026–now Judge, Georgia Tech Undergraduate Research Spring Symposium
  • 2025–now Proposal reviewer, Georgia Tech Undergraduate Research Opportunities salary awards
  • 2024–now Reviewer, Ecological Society of America Early Career Paper Award
  • 2023 Grant proposal reviewer, National Science Foundation, Division of Environmental Biology
  • 2023 Organizer, symposium “Incorporating dormancy and rarity to predict community dynamics and stability under environmental change”, ESA Annual Meeting, Portland, OR
  • 2022–2024 Career Development Board, Indiana University Postdoc Association

Languages

English and German (fluent), Turkish (native).