I first became interested in microscopy as an undergraduate at the University of Münster, where I worked in the lab of Erez Raz on a project investigating primordial germ cell migration. That early experience sparked my fascination with microscopy and imaging-based biology. To deepen my understanding of microscopy and biophysics, I later joined Timo Betz’s lab, where I focused on tissue mechanics and further developed my image analysis skills. During my master’s training, I continued to build on these interests, with a strong focus on biophysics and quantitative image analysis.
In 2022, I joined Jan Huisken’s lab at the University of Göttingen to learn more about optics and light sheet microscopy. Over the years, I have been involved in building and optimizing custom light-sheet microscopes to address biological imaging questions in collaboration with the Biomedical and Developmental Biology labs. Through this work, I discovered that I was especially drawn to developing and adapting microscopes to enable new kinds of experiments.
I fell in love with the MBL and Woods Hole while serving as a microscopy course assistant for the MBL Embryology course in 2024 and 2025. In early 2026, I returned to join the Patel lab and the Imaging Innovation Initiative, where I now focus on realizing custom microscope builds in the Image Innovation Lab. In parallel, I am working on a project to benchmark live dyes in non-model organisms, with a particular focus on developing quick and accessible approaches for live imaging.