Meet the TeamUniversity of Münster
Our interdisciplinary team investigates the fascinating world of vocal learning and communication — from the molecular mechanisms of vocal production to the social dynamics of bat colonies in tropical forests.
Natalia Adamowska
Natalia Adamowska began researching the acoustic communication and social behaviour of maternity colonies of the Greater mouse-eared bat for her Bachelor's thesis. She patiently observed the bats and their social interactions in their day-roosts during pup development and recorded their vocalisations. For her master's project, Natalia is currently analysing a call produced mainly when bats were approaching or leaving a roost, and when young bats started to become flight-ready. She is investigating whether this so-called contact call carries a vocal signature that encodes information on social group membership.
Wiebke Berns
Bavaria currently hosts the only known maternity colony of the Greater Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. In her master’s thesis, Wiebke Berns combines behavioural observations with simultaneous acoustic recordings to investigate the species’ vocal communication and social behaviour.
Jimena Jara
Jimena Jara is currently involved in a project which aims to investigate speech-relevant gene expression (e.g. FoxP2) and immediate early genes (i.e. neural activity) in the vocal learning bat Saccopteryx bilineata. She is currently using free-floating in situ hybridisation to analyse a dataset including brain tissue from three contexts: learning, vocal production, and silence.
Join the Lab
I am welcoming dedicated and curious students to the Fernandez Lab at the University of Münster. If you are passionate about vocal learning, bioacoustics, or animal communication, I would love to hear from you.