Congratulations! Elena Adams has completed her Ph.D. on pesticide effects on amphibians and consequences for their risk assessment

In June 2021, Elena Adams successfully defended her Ph.D. on pesticide effects on German amphibians and consequences for their risk assessment in the European Union.

Carsten Brühl reflects on Elena’s journey:

Elena started working with amphibians and pesticides in her master thesis when she looked at sensitivity differences in various life stages of European Common frogs. She extended her knowledge in her Ph.D. in the project “Effects of environmentally relevant pesticide mixtures and product formulations on German frogs (amphibians: Anura)”, funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation.

Elena setting up test cages for a field experiment in a breeding pond in the vine growing area around Landau (photo by C. Brühl)
Elena setting up test cages for a field experiment in a breeding pond in the vine growing area around Landau (photo by C. Brühl)

Elena performed various laboratory and field studies at different sites observing aquatic and also terrestrial life stages of European amphibians. She studied sensitivity differences of various amphibian species, changes in reproduction in natural breeding ponds in the agricultural landscape along a gradient of pesticide contamination and the effects of different formulations and their separate ingredients on mortality and behaviour. Her core thesis is based on the resulting peer-reviewed publications and complemented by some conclusions for risk assessment. The thesis can be found here.

Thank you very much for the great work and all your effort Elena, and all the best for your future projects!

Finally done – after the disputation in June 2021 with the Ph.D. committee: Ralf Schulz (reviewer), Elena Adams, Carsten Brühl (supervisor) and Mirco Bundschuh (committee chair) (from left to right, photo by V. Gerstle).

The EcotoxBlog congratulates you, Elena, and the team wishes you all the best in your future endeavours. If you want to find out more about Elena’s work, then please visit her profile.