Michelle Borgers
Contact & Availability
About Me & Research
Short Bio:
For my PhD project, I'm investigating gall-inducing psyllids and their bacterial symbionts, trying to understand these understudied
microbial partnerships and what they reveal about the insects themselves. As a side project, I'm also exploring bark beetles and
their fungal and bacterial microbiome, tracking how these communities shift across seasonal changes. The bacterial symbionts in
both systems are surprisingly understudied, and that gap is exactly what I want to dig into. When I'm not pipetting, sequencing, or
running stats, I draw on my background in graphic design to turn data into clean illustrations and figures, because good science
deserves a presentation that looks as sharp as it sounds. ;D
Research Interests:
- Microbiome dynamics across seasons
- Host and symbiont coevolution
- Scientific illustration and data visualization
Current Projects:
Microbiome diversity of bark beetles and psyllids.
- Favorite animal: Manatees <3
- Outside the office or lab I am usually climbing a wall at the bouldering gym - very cliché. :D
Career
- 2026 - now: PhD candidate, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
- 2025 - 2026: Medical Laboratory Scientist, MVZ Labor Münster
- 2021 - 2024: M.Sc. in Biosciences, University of Münster
- 2018 - 2021: B.S. in Biosciences, University of Münster
- 2015 - 2018: Education in Graphics and Design, Adolph-Kolping-Berufskolleg Münster
Publications & Teaching
Teaching: