Hello, my name is Dineshkumar Kandasamy and I come from Tamilnadu in India. In 2012, I obtained my master degree in molecular biology from Uppsala University. In 2019, I received my PhD in Biochemistry from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany. During my PhD studies I investigated the chemical interactions between the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), its host tree (Picea abies), and fungal symbionts.
As a postdoctoral researcher, I have now joined the Pheromone Group and the Max Planck Centre “next Generation Insect Chemical Ecology (nGICE)” with Martin N Andersson as the main host. In this project, I will explore how climate change and atmospheric pollutants influence the chemical ecology and olfactory sense of bark beetles with special emphasis on their relations with microbial symbionts and their conifer host trees.
Co-hosts in this project are Christer Löfstedt and Bill Hansson, and some of the work will be conducted at MPI in Jena. I am very excited to be back in Sweden after 8 years with my family to pursue my scientific career and further develop my research skills within the excellent environment that nGICE provides.
