Jitka's CV
Education
2019
2005
2001
1999
Habilitation in Mathematical Biology, University of Vienna
Ph.D., Dep. of Zoology, Charles University, Prague: Competitive speciation: From clonal populations to genetic models
MSc., Dep. of Ecology and Ethology, Charles University, Prague: Geometry of social relationships in the Wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus
BSc., Biology, Charles University, Prague: Role of MHC in individual recognition
Academic and Research Appointments
since 2020
2019 - 2020
2015 - 2018
2009 - 2014
2007 - 2009
2006
2005 - 2006
Postdoctoral research fellow (PI) at the Faculty of Mathematics,
University of Vienna
Postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Epidemiology,
Medical University of Vienna (1/2 time)
Postdoctoral research fellow (PI) at the Faculty of Mathematics,
University of Vienna
Postdoctoral research fellow at the IST Austria
Postdoctoral research fellow at Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland, Edinburgh
Research fellow at the Center for Theoretical Study, Prague
Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Fundings and scholarships
2019
2015
2004
Causes and consequences of population fragmentation (FWF)
Evolutionary ecology of species' ranges (FWF), Elise Richter Programme
Mobility Fund of Charles University, Prague
Research Interests
My research focuses on advancing theory to address fundamental questions in evolutionary
ecology and specifically, on the evolution of species’ ranges in the light of environmental change.
I employ both analytical and numerical treatments for models that combine population genetics with
ecological dynamics. In my recent pioneering work, I provided the first testable predictions for a collapse
of a species’ range, which arises froman intrinsic interplay between evolutionary and ecological dynamics.
I have also discovered the phenomenon of dynamic range fragmentation, and secured research funding
to study this interesting process in both static and changing environments. Lately, I have contributed to
epidemiological modelling of COVID-19, focusing on the situation in Austria: www.epimath.at.
Teaching Experience
2017 & 2018
2016
2012
2011
2011
2007
2004
Molecular Population Genetics: Making Sense of Sequence Data, University of Vienna (4 lectures: quantitive genetics)
Modeling in Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna
(6 lectures and creating the course)
Frontiers of Speciation (FroSpects) Summer School, Pruhonice
Contemporary molecular-genetic approaches in zoology and conservation genetics, Brno
Evolutionary Genetics Summer School, IST Austria
MSc. course in Population Genetics, University of Edinburgh
HTML-CSS course for BSc. students of Environmental and Community Biology, University of Edinburgh
Talks (selected)
2021
2018
2018
2017
2015
2015
2013
2010
2003
Evolution of Species Ranges, University of Gothenburg (Sweden; online): On species’ range fragmentation. (invited)
II Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Montpellier (France): Coevolution of species’ geographic range and ecological niche in a changing environment: On the interaction between selection, drift, and gene flow
Population Genetics Group meeting, Bristol (UK): Is the sky the limit? On the expansion threshold of a species’ range.
Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Groningen (Netherlands): Limits to a species’ range in two-dimensional habitats.
Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Lausanne (Switzerland): Coevolution of genetic variance and species range in a changing environment.
Congress of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE), Vienna (Austria): Limits to a species range in one- and two-dimensional habitats.
Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Lisbon (Portugal): When does genetic drift prevent expansion of a species range?
Cambridge (UK), Newton Institute (invited): Special workshop: Evolutionary dynamics of structured populations. Adaptation in continuous populations with migration and genetic drift.
Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Leeds (UK): Speciation in asexual populations in sympatry and parapatry.
Supervised Theses
PhD students
2020-present
MSc students
2021-2022
2021-2022
2016-2018
2009-2011
Oluwafunmilola Olusanya (co-supervised by Nick Barton):
Polygenic adaptation in a metapopulation under stabilizing selection
(IST Austria and University of Vienna, Department of Mathematics)
Alina Kadluba: Variance effective population size
(University of Vienna, Department of Mathematics)
Pia Hofer: The structured coalescent and the coalescence effective population size
(University of Vienna, Department of Mathematics)
Hanja Pisa (co-supervised by J. Hermisson):
The influence of fluctuating population densities on evolutionary dynamics
(University of Vienna, Department of Mathematics)
Pavel Payne: The role of genetic variance in speciation
(Charles University, Prague, Department of Theoretical Biology)
Other Experience
2022
2010
Referee for
Organizer of the Symposium Eco-evolutionary dynamics in changing environments: insights from models, experiments and case studies at the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Prague
Organizer of the Frontiers of speciation: Evolution of reproductive isolation: models and empirical evidence meeting, Prague (together with Radka Storchova)
Ecology Letters, American Naturalist, Evolution, Heredity, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (reviewer board 2011-2017), Nature Communications, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Molecular Ecology, , PLoS Genetics, PLoS Biology, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS ONE, European Physics Journal B, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Theoretical Population Biology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution; Grant reviewer for: NWO (Netherlands), Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, Marsden Fund (New Zealand).