Jessica Finck

Hi! My name is Jessica Finck, and I'm currently a PhD at the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry at the University of Jena.

I'm a trained microbiologist with a background in theoretical ecology, molecular/environmental microbiology, and bioinformatics. I'm driven by my interest in microbial interaction ecology – particularly how metabolic flexibility might help microbes to overcome challenging environments via niche partitioning, but also how microbes are related to planetary health and climate change . 

During my master's I was interested microbial niche differentiation. Nowadays, my prime interest lies in how different abiotic (i.e. drought, soil type) and biotic factors (i.e. plant diversity) influence the assembly and interaction networks of microbial communities in various soils, going from temperate grasslands to tropical forests. 

While in Jena, I graduated in the BSc Biology (Ecology) program, and the MSc Evolution, Ecology & Systematics (Microbial ecology) program, where I completed a joint curriculum with courses from the theoretical ecology and molecular microbiology. During this time, I worked as a tutor at FSU Jena. As part of my PhD I work within the frameworks of the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory Project (ATTO) in Brazil, and the Jena Experiment in Germany. In retrospect, I look particularly fondly at my time in Boston with the amazing Huttenhower group who helped broaden my expertise in genomic and multiomic analyses, which I am eager to integrate into my future work. 

Challenging myself in science, research,  and methods used has always been my credo. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to get in touch!