My primary research interest concerns the causes and evolutionary consequences of chromosomal rearrangements. Following my studies in biology and philosophy at the University of Bonn and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, I did a doctorate on patterns, mechanisms and evolutionary implications of karyotype differentiation in African killifishes (genus Chromaphyosemion). This project was carried out at the University of Bonn and the Laboratory of Fish Genetics, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

In March 2007, I joined the lab of Dr Darren K Griffin at the University of Kent, where I am working on a BBSRC-funded project on comparative cytogenetics and genomics in birds.