Hello there! I’m Ruben, and in May I joined Colin Olito’s lab in the Biodiversity and Evolution division. In the lab’s unfolding project to study the evolution of sex determination in the plant genus Wikstroemia, I will be focusing on phylogenomics, biogeography and evolutionary history.
I grew up outside Stockholm and got my bachelor (Biology) and master (Ecology and Biodiversity) at Stockholm University. This is where I first came into contact with evolutionary ecology and phylogenetics, and I ended up writing a master thesis on the evolution of cold tolerance in the succulent, halophyte clade Salicornieae (Amaranthaceae). Once that was finished I spent a few years doing botanical field work for biodiversity research and environmental monitoring, which was a lot of fun and a well needed break from campus life. However, I am now very happy to be fully back at university, and excited to once again be working with some of my main passions.
Speaking of passions, I occasionally find time for doing things outside of working, and hopefully this will continue despite what I hear about the life of a PhD student. I read a lot and I drink what some would probably call too much tea, I do a bit of bouldering and a bit of birdwatching (despite being a botanist), I play dnd, and have started to dabble in writing poetry. I go on a lot of walks to look at nature and, recently, to explore Lund. Since I moved here I’ve also been wondering whether I need a new hobby, so any suggestions are welcome.
You’ll find me on the Ecology Building third floor, probably brewing or drinking tea, or else in the greenhouses trying to keep plants alive. I’ll probably disappear to Hawaii for a bit sometime next year, but that’s then. For now, feel free to say hi.
Cheers!
