Mentoring & Stories
Mentoring is one of the most exciting parts of research. I see it as a true partnership: I share my expertise, and students bring the fresh questions that often challenge our core assumptions. For students driven by the goal of pursuing research, or committed to maximizing their project’s final scientific impact, we partner to push the findings towards co-authored publication.
This section highlights those incredible teams—the ones who went the extra mile to turn their results into peer-reviewed science.
Cyril R. Master 2
2025
Miocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of the Radoboj site (Croatia) through the study of fossil leaves and advanced proxies.
Cyril delivered an outstanding project that combines rigorous CLAMP and plant-arthropod interaction analyses. Conducted in close collaboration with Dr. Thomas Denk, this work is particularly significant as it marks my first Master's student project where I am the principal corresponding author.
🔗 Manuscript Submitted to Scientific Advances
Imre G. PhD student
2023-2026
Exploring Late Paleogene and Neogene environmental transitions in Hungary, through detailed analysis of preserved plant-arthropod interactions in fossil assemblages.
Imre's project marks my first foray into PhD co-supervision, establishing a truly reciprocal high-level exchange. His highly focused approach and our deep partnership on advanced methodology quickly led to a major publication on Oligocene transitions. This collaboration, which is highly formative for both of us, is continuing with a second significant manuscript currently under peer review.
🔗 Co-authored Paper: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2025) & Paleobiology (in review)
Pénélope C. Master 1
2020-2012
Comparative study of insect herbivory traces on the Paleocene macroflora from the Menat locality (France).
Pénélope conducted a meticulous analysis of complex Paleocene interactions, establishing a critical foundation for a larger collaborative project on the Menat locality. Her outstanding M1 work served as the perfect springboard for her successful transition into a PhD program in Paleoecology. Although the manuscript is currently in the pipeline due to her rapid progression in PhD, we are actively working to finalize the article.
🔗 Manuscript in preparation
Xin Zhuang 庄欣 Master 2
2018-2019
Differentiation of hereditary characters caused by geographical isolation in Parrotia subaequalis, through comparative leaf trait analyses and fieldwork in the Yixing forest, China.
Xin demonstrated remarkable rigor during the fieldwork and advanced statistical analyses. The depth of her trait analyses led directly to our first co-authored publication, focusing on specialized insect feeding traces. This project successfully evolved into a long-term partnership, leading to a second publication exploring Parrotia pollen morphology.
🔗 Co-authored Paper: Royal Society Open Science (2020) & Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (2022)
Mahdieh M. Master 1-2
2016 - 2018
Herbivore density and leaf damage on Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) in the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forest, examining modern interactions against fossil evidence.
Mahdieh was instrumental in developing the fieldwork protocol and analyzing the intricate plant-insect interactions. Her rigorous approach transformed the master's project into a major publication, offering key insights into the long-term ecological trajectory of this 'living fossil' lineage. We presented these exciting findings at two international conferences.
🔗 Co-authored Paper: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (2018)