Emmy Noether Group Leader
Own lab at the University of Münster, Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology (started September 1, 2025)
Curriculum Vitae
Academic CV
Ahana Aurora Fernandez — Emmy Noether Group Leader, Behavioural Biologist, Bioacoustician & Biolinguist.
Academic Positions
2025 →
2025
Research Associate
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
2020–2024
Postdoctoral Researcher
Museum of Natural History Berlin, Germany
Museum of Natural History Berlin, Germany
Education
2015–2020
Doctoral Student, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Doctoral Thesis (summa cum laude): „Vocal ontogenetic processes in bat pups – From babbling behaviour to the interplay of social and vocal complexity"
supervised by Prof. M. Knörnschild, second Advisor: Prof. Constance Scharff
Doctoral Thesis (summa cum laude): „Vocal ontogenetic processes in bat pups – From babbling behaviour to the interplay of social and vocal complexity"
supervised by Prof. M. Knörnschild, second Advisor: Prof. Constance Scharff
2012–2015
Research Assistant
Various scientific projects at the University of Bern and the Natural History Museum Bern, Switzerland
Various scientific projects at the University of Bern and the Natural History Museum Bern, Switzerland
2012–2014
Master of Science (summa cum laude), University of Bern, Switzerland
With a special qualification in Evolutionary Ecology, supervised by Prof. H. Richner
Thesis: Aggressive behaviour and communication in the bat, Carollia perspicillata
With a special qualification in Evolutionary Ecology, supervised by Prof. H. Richner
Thesis: Aggressive behaviour and communication in the bat, Carollia perspicillata
2008–2012
Bachelor of Science (magna cum laude), University of Bern, Switzerland
With a special qualification in Evolutionary Ecology
With a special qualification in Evolutionary Ecology
Awards & Fellowships
2026
“Erstklassig!” scholarship (18 months)
University of Münster – competitive women career-development programme toward professorship
University of Münster – competitive women career-development programme toward professorship
2026
Niko Tinbergen Award
Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V.
Ethologische Gesellschaft e.V.
2025
Forschungspreis der Deutschen Wildtier Stiftung
(for independent 2-years project on research on native wildlife)
(for independent 2-years project on research on native wildlife)
2025
Emmy Noether Programme (DFG Germany)
Programme for leading an independent junior research group
Programme for leading an independent junior research group
2022
Marthe-Vogt Award
Of the „Forschungsverbund Berlin" for an outstanding young female scientist
Of the „Forschungsverbund Berlin" for an outstanding young female scientist
2016–2019
Elsa Neumann Fellowship
Full fellowship for doctoral students
Full fellowship for doctoral students
Research Projects
PI
Mastering Communication
Emmy Noether Grant, DFG
PI
From birth to courtship: An acoustic journey through the life of horseshoe bats
Deutsche Wildtierstiftung, 2026–2028
Co-Lead
Hummingbird Harmonies: The Fascinating World of High-pitched Vocalizations
STRI, with Dr. Jay Falk, University of Colorado Boulder
Collaborative Partner
Wochenstuben des Großen Mausohrs als Zentren sozialen Lernens
PI: Dr. S. Ripperger
Supervision & Teaching
- 2026 → Teaching research module “Basics in Bat Biology, with specialization in Bioacoustics”
- 2026 → PI in doctoral program “Münster Graduate School for Evolution” (MGSE)
- 2026 → Supervision of Master Thesis of Wiebke Berns (University of Münster) — “Acoustic Communication and Social Behaviour of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in a Maternity Colony”
- 2025 → Supervision of Master Thesis of Natalia Adamowska (FU Berlin) — “Vocal signatures in contact calls of the Greater mouse-eared bat”
- 2023–2024 Co-supervision of two interns, Michelle Negrette Bohorquez and Sadoni James, from the STRI intern program — "Hummingbird Harmonies: The Fascinating World of High-pitched Vocalizations"
- 2023–2024 Co-supervision of Bachelor Thesis of Natalia Adamowska (FU Berlin) — "The vocal repertoire of maternal colonies of the Greater Mouse-eared bat"
- 2021 Co-supervision of field work in Costa Rica of master student Marisa Tietge (FU Berlin)
- 2019–2021 Mentoring of master student Simon Hiller (University of Bern) — "Automated syllable type classification of babbling sequences of the neotropical bat Saccopteryx bilineata based on neuronal networks" (MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology)
- Apr 2018 Workshop for bachelor students "Analysis of vocalizations – from data collection to acoustic analysis", conducted at the Department of Comparative Developmental Psychology. Invited by Prof. Dr. K. Liebal, Free University of Berlin
- 2018 Co-supervision of bachelor thesis of Sarah-Cecil Fabian (FU Berlin) — "Mother-pup communication of the greater sac-winged bat"
- 2017–2018 Internship supervision of Madita Richter (FU Berlin) — "Acoustic analysis of maternal bat calls"
- 2017–2018 Co-supervision of master thesis of Nora Lena Serve (FU Berlin) — "Maternal influences on vocal repertoire ontogeny in Saccopteryx bilineata" (including supervision of field stay in Panama)
Invited Talks
- Sept 2026 Tinbergen Prize Plenary talk: “Social learning and vocal communication in bats” — Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
- Nov 2025 „Mastering Communication in the Greater Sac-winged bat" — Tupper Seminar, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá
- Mar 2025 „From babbling to lifelong communication: learning processes in the greater sac-winged bat" — Princeton University, New Jersey, US
- Aug 2024 „Learning to communicate: from the field to the lab" — Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin
- Jul 2024 Invited talk at Freie Universität Berlin as part of the student's course "Bats in the City"
- Feb 2024 "Bats as a model for biolinguistics: Exploring vocal ontogeny and learning processes" — Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, Austria
- Nov 2023 "Vocal Ontogeny and Learning in Bats: An Animal Model for Biolinguistics" (competitive application) — Emerging Scientist Series, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
- Oct 2023 "Learning to Communicate: Vocal Development in Greater Sac-Winged Bats" — Bioacoustic community, University of Zürich
- Sep 2023 "From Babbling to Singing: Vocal development in the Greater sac-winged bat" — Bats without Borders, Winged Wednesday Webinar Series
- Jun 2023 "Animal experimental research and animal welfare: working with wild bats" — University of Bielefeld
- May 2023 "Bats: A promising taxon for exploring complex vocal communication and learning" — Virtual songbird satellite session, Queens College, CUNY
- Apr 2023 "Social communication in bats: from babbling to singing" — Princeton "Tropical Ecology field course", STRI, Gamboa, Panama
- Oct 2022 "From babbling to singing: vocal communication of the greater sac-winged bat" — Symposium "Mind your language", Sainsbury Wellcome Centre / GCNU, University College London
- Feb 2022 "Learning how to communicate: the case study of the Greater sac-winged bat" — Forschungsinstitut für Nutztierbiologie, Celle, Germany
- Nov 2021 "From babbling Bats to Brains" — Winter Lab, Humboldt University Berlin
- Oct 2021 "From babbling Bats to Brains: Vocal ontogenetic processes in Saccopteryx bilineata" — Park Lab, University of Illinois, USA
- Sep 2021 "Vocal ontogenetic processes in the greater sac-winged bat" — Nick Jourjine seminar, Hoekstra Lab, Oxford, "Bridging Brains and Bioacoustics"
Academic Services
2022 →
Spokesperson
Selection process, Behavioural Biology Section, German Zoological Society
2023–2026
Organizer
Multiple graduate meetings and satellite symposia
2025 →
Guest Editor
Special issue Wildlife in Urban Spaces, Ethology
Ongoing
Reviewer
For 10+ journals including Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Proceedings B, and JASA
Outreach: Workshops, Talks & Events
- Aug 2023 International Batnight at Spreepark — Public outreach event with German sign language interpreters; featured by Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg television
- Aug 2022 Babbelnde Fledermauskinder — Batnight Augsburg, Germany
- 2021 → 9 workshops „Fledermäuse im Spreepark" — Including outreach talk on bats and guided bioacoustic monitoring tour
- Aug 2020 Fledermaus Aktionstag — In collaboration with artist Ines Theileis, Bühne Nirgendwo, Berlin
- Jul 2020 Bat night at Bat Museum Julianenhof — Public outreach on echolocation, communication, and acoustic recording
- Jun 2019 Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft — „Fledermausnacht: Auf den Spuren der Nachtjäger", Natural History Museum Berlin
- Mar 2019 Girls' Day — Interactive event for young female scholars, Natural History Museum Berlin
- Apr 2018 KiezNerds — Public event, Berlin
- Jun 2018 Geo Tag der Natur — Outreach event in Thüringen, invited bat expert
- 2013–2015 Workshops for children and school classes — Ecology and animal behaviour, Naturzentrum Eichholz, Bern, Switzerland
Certifications
Certified Bat Marking
LfULG, Germany, 2023
FELASA B Laboratory Animal Science
Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, 2019
Basics of Science Communication
National Institute for Science Communication, Germany, 2023
Selected Conference Contributions
Fernandez AA, Scharff, C & Knörnschild M (2023) Saccopteryx bilineata: A Promising Candidate for Exploring Neuronal Substrates of Vocal Learning (Poster). German Zoological Society Meeting 2023, Kassel, Germany
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2023) The Greater Sac-winged Bat: A mammalian model for Biolinguistic Research (Talk). Fellow Symposium, STRI, Panama City
Fernandez AA, Serve NL, Fabian S-C & Knörnschild M (2023) Maternal feedback shapes vocal practice and learning processes in the Greater sac-winged bat (Talk). Behaviour Conference, Bielefeld, Germany
Fernandez AA, Harder J, Itterman L, Mayer F, Ripperger S (2023) Maternity roosts of the Greater mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis: Important centers of social learning? (Talk). National Bat Research Conference, Bern, Switzerland
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2022) Babbling behavior: shared vocal ontogenetic features in bat pups and human infants (Talk). Joint Conference on Language Evolution, Japan
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2022) Babbling in bat pups and human infants: shared features in an extraordinary vocal practice behavior (Talk). Animal Behaviour Society, USA
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2021) Baby talk in bats: pup directed vocalizations in the greater sac-winged bat (Talk). Animal Behaviour Society, USA
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2019) Babbling in bat pups and human infants: A key element during vocal development (Talk). International Bioacoustics Congress, Brighton, England
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2019) The role of social interactions on vocal ontogeny in the babbling bat Saccopteryx bilineata (Talk). International Bat Research Conference, Phuket, Thailand
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2017) Phonological syntax in babbling bouts of Saccopteryx bilineata (Poster). 5th International Berlin Bat Meeting, Berlin, Germany
Fernandez AA, Knörnschild M (2016) Multiple messages in isolation calls of Saccopteryx bilineata (Talk). 12th Annual Meeting of the Ethological Society (ETHOGES), German Primate Research Center (DPZ), Göttingen, Germany
Fernandez AA (2015) Aggressive behaviour and communication in the frugivorous bat Carollia perspicillata: a playback experiment (Talk). DZG Graduate Meeting in Animal Behaviour, University of Vienna, Austria
Get in Touch
Let's Connect
If you are interested in my work, in collaborations or in future projects please get in touch.
University
ahana.fernandez@uni-muenster.de
Personal
fernandez.aurora.ahana@gmail.com
Bluesky
@ahanaaurora.bsky.social