Michael T. Monaghan

Michael T. Monaghan is a Professor at the Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, and leads the Research Group in Molecular Ecology and Genomics at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). His work bridges evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, and environmental monitoring, focusing on freshwater systems and urban aquatic habitats.

• Education: B.S. (The Ohio State University, 1995), M.S. (Idaho State University, 1998), Dr. sc. nat. (ETH Zürich, 2002)
• Key Positions: Senior Scientist/Research Group Leader at IGB (2008–present), Visiting Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School (2016), Guest Professor at Ehime University (2015–2016)

Dr. Monaghan's research explores freshwater biodiversity dynamics using molecular tools like metabarcoding and phylogenomics. His team investigates how environmental changes—climate warming, urbanization, pollution—affect microbial and insect communities, with a focus on eDNA applications and ecohydrology.

His publications (2022–2025) span topics such as climate-driven plankton shifts, urban habitat adaptation by bees, toxin genetics in algae, and metagenomic monitoring of aquatic systems. Collaborative projects like BiNatUr and ODER~SO emphasize urban resilience and disaster ecology.

Teaching includes data science in biology, evolutionary ecology, and environmental genomics at Freie Universität Berlin and the Institute of Computer Science. He mentors doctoral and master’s students in molecular ecology and trains interns in biodiversity genomics.

Lab Members:

• Dr. Dagmar Frisch (Scientific Staff)
• Dr. Katrin Kiemel (Postdoc)
• Elisabeth Funke (Research Technician)
• Doctoral Candidates: Onur Erk Kavlak, Athena Karapli-Petritsopoulou, Daniel Wewer