Dr. Elina (Eleni Elda) Takola
Postdoctoral researcher
Contact/ Adress
Dr. Elina Takola
Postdoctoral researcher
Department of Computational Landscape Ecology
Helmholtz-Zentrum
für Umweltforschung - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig
elina.takola@ufz.de

CV / Scientific Career
2022 - present
Postdoctoral researcher in UFZ
2018 - 2022
PhD student in Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena (Germany)
2016 - 2018
Master student in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
MSc Thesis: “Herpetofauna-habitat relationships in the suburban forest of Thessaloniki”
2010 - 2016
Bachelor student in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
BSc thesis: Population structure and morphometric traits of Hermann’s (Testudo hermanni) and spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in the suburban forest of Thessaloniki
Teaching experience
April-July 2020 & April-July 2022 |
Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena Course Assistant PI: Prof. Holger Schielzeth • Einflussreiche Publikationen in der Ökologie / Classic Papers in Ecology (MEES021/E16) |
November 2021 – January 2022 & November 2022 – January 2023 |
Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena Course Assistant PI: Prof. Stefan Halle • Ecological Concepts 1: Current Fields of Ecological Research (E15) |
November – December 2021 |
Max Planck for Evolutionary Anthropology/University of Leipzig Practical Course Assistant PI: Prof. Anja Widdig • "Module 11-BIO-0804: Primate Behavioral Ecology" |
October 2021 & October 2022 |
Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena Course Assistant PI: Prof. Holger Schielzeth • Praktikum Evolutionsbiologie (BB006) (Lehrpreis 2022 der Universität Jena / Teaching award by University of Jena) |
November 2020 |
Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena Graduate Academy (Qualification Programme) • Meta-analysis course |
Research interests / Credo
I use meta-analyses and evidence syntheses to examine the relationships between organisms and their environment. My research focuses on exploring the impact of landscape heterogeneity on spatial dynamics of species and how this ultimately affects biodiversity patterns. In addition, I am interested in unveiling how landscape heterogeneity affects the effectiveness of conservation measures.
I am a strong advocate of open science practices and an active member of the Society for Open Reliable Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology-SORTEE (member of the conference committee since 2021). My research is committed to promoting inclusion, accessibility and interdisciplinarity, while renouncing helicopter research and scientific misconduct.
Invited Talks
- “Hutchinson’s ecological niche for individuals”, talk on the 11th Jan. 2022 in N. Dingemanse’s Lab (University of Munich).
- “NC³ - Individualized niches; theory and practices”, talk on the 05th of April 2022 in the Symposium InChangE, NC3 and JICE (Bielefeld University).
- Multiple talks in the regular Seminar of the Animal Behaviour group in the University of Bielefeld.
Publications
Takola, E., Schielzeth, H. (2022). Hutchinson’s ecological niche for individuals. Biology & Philosophy, 37, 25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-022-09849-y
Trappes, R., Nematipour, B., Kaiser, M. I., Krohs, U., van Benthem, K. J., Ernst, U. R., Gadau, J., Korsten, P., Kurtz, J., Schielzeth, H., Schmoll, T., Takola, E. (2022). How Individualized Niches Arise: Defining Mechanisms of Niche Construction, Niche Choice and Niche Conformance. BioScience, 2022;, biac023, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac023
Takola, E., Krause, E., Müller, C., & Schielzeth, H. (2021). Novelty at second glance: a critical appraisal of the novel object paradigm based on meta-analysis. Animal Behaviour, 180, 123-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.018
Moran, N., Caspers, B., Chakarov, N., Ernst, U., Fricke, C., Kurtz, J., Lilie, N., Ka Lo, L., Müller, C., R, R., Takola, E., Trimmer, P., van Benthem, K., Winternitz, J. & Wittmann, M. (2021). Shifts between cooperation and antagonism driven by individual variation: a systematic synthesis review. Oikos. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08201