Curriculum vitae

My life as an academic

Education & Professional Experience

since April 2016 – Professional training at dogument to use detection dogs as a non-invasive surveying technique for wildlife conservation & anti-poaching

since January 2016 – Member of the DAAD – Quality Network Biodiversity Kenya

»Reconciling livelihood needs and nature conservation in the East African forest biodiversity hotspots«

Transdisciplinary biodiversity network with a focus on forests in Kitui, Taita Hills, and Arabuko-Sokoke in Kenya:
(i) ecology
(ii) agro-ecology
(iii) education, communication and conservation management

since July 2015 – Instructor of the Tropical Biology Association courses at the Amani Nature Reserve (Tanzania), Kirindy Forest (Madagascar) & Danum Valley Conservation Area, Southeast Sabah (Malaysia)

June 22^nd 2015, PhD defense

Sep 2010 – Jun 2015 PhD candidate, My official Max Planck Institute website
Jul 2009 – Jul 2010 Research Associate, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Apr 2009 Diplom in Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Sept 2006 – April 2009 Student Teacher, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

PhD Advisory Committee

PD Dr. Barbara Helm, University of Glasgow
Prof. Dr. Rosemary Grant, Princeton University
Prof. Dr. Manfred Gahr, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
PD Dr. Wolfgang Goymann, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Dr. Juan Carlos Illera, Oviedo University

Awards & Scholarships

Best Student Paper Award (IMPRS), for the publication Mortega KG, Flinks H, Helm B. 2014. Behavioural response of a migratory songbird to geographic variation in song and morphology. Front Zool 11:185, Germany (awarded 2015) – Professional video production on documentary of my doctoral project
Travel Grant of the British Ornithologist’s Union, 10^th Conference of the European Ornithologists’ Union, Badajoz, Spain (awarded 2015)
Travel Grant of the German Ornithologists’ Society, 26^th International Ornithological Congress (IOC), Tokyo, Japan (awarded 2014) – 1800 €
Student Research Grant of the International Max Planck Research School for Organismal Biology (IMPRS), Germany (awarded 2014) – 1200 €
Scholarship of the IMPRS for Organismal Biology, Germany (awarded 2014) – 5700 €
Student Placement of ERASMUS, University of Glasgow, IBAHCM, Glasgow, Scotland (awarded 2014) – 2000 €
Research Grant of the NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Sheffield, UK (awarded 2013, substantial contribution) – £ 30,000
Three-year Research Grant of the German Research Foundation, DFG, Germany, funding of my PhD project (awarded 2011, substantial contribution) – 205,000 €
Travel Grant of the Equal Opportunity and Women’s Affairs, University of Konstanz, 8^th Conference of the EOU, Riga, Latvia (awarded 2011) – 800 €
One-year Scholarship of the IMPRS for Organismal Biology, Germany (awarded 2010) – 20,000 €
Travel Grant of the Equal Opportunity and Women’s Affairs, Free University of Berlin, 5^th European Conference on Behavioural Biology (ECBB), Ferrara, Italy (awarded 2010) – 1000 €
Travel Grant of the Equal Opportunity and Women’s Affairs, Free University of Berlin, 22^nd Meeting of the International Bioacoustics Council (IBAC), Lisbon, Portugal (awarded 2009) – 1000 €
One-year Scholarship of the Innovationsfond, Excellence Initiative, Free University of Berlin, Germany (awarded 2009)
Research Grant of the Equal Opportunity and Women’s Affairs, Free University of Berlin, Life histories and hormonal control in Black redstarts, in collaboration with the MPI for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany (awarded 2009) – 3000 €
Travel Grant of the Free University of Berlin, 4th topical Meeting of the Ethological Society – Behaviour and Evolution, Göttingen, Germany (awarded 2009) – 500 €

Talks & Presentations at Scientific Meetings

Bridging the gap – Linking Social Sciences with Natural Sciences, Pwani University & A Rocha Kenya, Kilifi, Kenya (February 2017)
Culture and conservation – The role of sacred places for nature conservation (Kaya Forests), Pwani University & A Rocha Kenya, Kilifi, Kenya (February 2017)
Translating theory into praxis – Implementation and Evaluation of the Amani Nature Reserve conservation program in Tanzania, Kirindy Forest, Madagascar (November 2016)
Partitioning the effects of allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird, Kirindy Forest, Madagascar (November 2016)
Conservation management – Translating theory into practice – National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya (March 2016)
Conservation planning as a transdisciplinary process – South Eastern Kenya University, Kitui, Kenya (March 2016)
Partitioning the effects of allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird, Cyprus, Nicosia (February 2016)
Hormones and behavior, Cyprus, Nicosia (February 2016)
Partitioning the effects of allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – 10^th International Conference on Behaviour, Physiology and Genetics of Wildlife, Berlin, Germany (September 2015)
Science Slam at the Grand Challenges Symposium on Scientific communication, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany (September 2015)
Partitioning the effects of allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – 10^th Conference of the European Ornithologists’ Union, Badajoz, Spain (August 2015)
Allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – 48^th Population Genetics Group, Sheffield, UK (January 2015)
Allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – 26^th International Ornithological Congress, Tokyo, Japan (August 2014)
Allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – Evolutionary Analysis Meeting, BAHCM, Glasgow, UK (March 2014)
Responsiveness to geographic variation of song and morphology in a migratory songbird – Grand Challenges in Communication in Social Communities, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany (September 2013)
Allochronic and geographic reproductive isolation in an African songbird – National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya (March 2013)
Seasonal changes in testosterone and its effects on singing behaviour and territorial aggression in the Black redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros – 2^nd Junior Researcher Conference of the German Ornithologists’ Society, MPI for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany (November 2011)
Seasonal changes in testosterone and its effects on singing behaviour and territorial aggression in the Black redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros – 8^th Conference of the European Ornithologists’ Union, Riga, Latvia (August 2011)
Seasonal patterns of singing in relation to breeding in the Common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos – 5^th European Conference on Behavioural Biology, Ferrara, Italy (July 2010)
Seasonal patterns of singing in relation to breeding in the Common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos – 13^th Junior Researcher Conference of Ethology, MPI for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany (November 2009)
Seasonal patterns of singing in relation to breeding in the Common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos – 22^nd Meeting of the International Bioacoustics Council (IBAC), Lisbon, Portugal (September 2009)
How pairing changes singing behavior: A field study on nightingales, Luscinia megarhynchos – 4^th topical meeting of the Ethological Society, Göttingen, Germany (February 2009)

Science Communication

Upcoming event – Teaching ‘Conservation in Africa’ at the »Chimala Wildlife Conservation Club« hosted by Beate Apfelbeck in Tanzania (September 2016)
Upcoming event – Documentary film about my doctoral project »Evolution, ecology & conservation of African stonechats« (May 2016)
Upcoming event – Interview about my work for the University of Glasgow Podcast »Naturally speaking« (2016, Scotland)
My internet blog »Africa in my eyes« about my field work, teaching conservation courses, my students’ experiences, plants & animals, cultures & traditions, and any related adventures (since 2012)
My personal website »Kim Geraldine Mortega«
Involvement at the public outreach center of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology »MaxCine« including guided tours, workshops and lectures called ‘Kids go Science’ and ‘Science goes Public’ Radolfzell, Germany (2011-2014)
Article about my work on European stonechats Birdsong proves geographical races have different responses by Dave Armstrong (earthtimes.org | 2014)
Interview for the local newspaper Südkurier »Ein Forscherleben zwischen Afrika und dem Bodensee« (translation: »Life as a researcher between Africa and Lake Constance, Germany« | 2013)
Nationwide youth science competitions at the »GEO-Tag der Artenvielfalt | Biodiversity day«. Attendance with short documentary films of pupils explaining our Nature right at our doorsteps, Berlin, Germany (June 2008|09|10)
Field expeditions »Exploring Nature« for kids in and around Berlin, Germany (2008 – 2010)
»Girl’s day – Mädchen-Zukunftstag« at the Free University Berlin, Germany (2008|09)

Workshops & Summer Schools

Coping with the challenges of a PhD (Tress & Tress, Munich, Germany, 2010)
Data Visualization (Barret Klein, University of Wisconsin, United States, 2011)
International Summer School in Evolutionary Biology (Basel University & ETH Zurich, Guarda, Switzerland, 2011)
Genomic Sequence Data Handling and Analysis (Jakob Müller, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany, 2015)
Scientific Integrity (Roberto Andorno, University of Zurich, Switzerland, 2011)
Scientific Writing: Introduction (Barbara Helm, Max Planck Institute, Radolfzell, Germany, 2012)
Scientific Writing for Advanced Students (Barbara Helm, Scottish Centre for Ecology and Natural Environment, Scotland, 2014)
Scientific Writing Retreat (Dina Dechmann & Teague O’Mara, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany, 2015)
Scientific Writing Lab (Science Craft, Brian Cusack & Adam Wilkins, Berlin, Germany, 2015)
Statistics Modul 1: Introduction to R (Stefanie von Felten, Oikostat, 2010)
Statistics Modul 2: Linear Models and Linear Mixed Models with R (Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Oikostat, 2010)
Statistics Modul 3: Generalized Linear Models and Generalized Linear Mixed Models with R (Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Oikostat, 2013)
Statistics Modul 4: Own Data Workshop (Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Oikostat, 2013/14)
Time Management (Tress & Tress, Munich, Germany, 2010)

Memberships

Society for Conservation Biology, SCB, since 2016
Society for Tropical Ecology, GtÖ, since 2016
British Ornithologist’s Union, BOU, since 2015
German Ornithologists’ Society, DO-G, since 2010
German Zoological Society, DZG, since 2010
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, ASAB, since 2010