Meet our new Senior Editor and Social Media Manager, M. Sandhya. She is pursuing her Master’s in Ecotoxicology and currently involved in her internship at the Julius-Kühn Institute (Siebeldingen).

“Warm greetings to everyone!

My name is M. Sandhya and I am from India. I started out as a B.Sc. student in Forensic Science with a major in Toxicology in 2016 before coming to Landau for pursuing a Master’s in Ecotoxicology in 2019. My interest in Ecotoxicology stems from my bachelor’s project on identification and significance of diatoms in drowning cases.

My affinity to Terrestrial Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment took me to the Julius-Kühn Institute (JKI), where I am completing my AMEO (Internship) under the Department of ‘Pflanzenschutz in Obst-und-Weinbau’ (plant protection in promi- and viniculture). My position as an intern revolves around experiments to develop a test method using laboratory and semi-field methods for protection of red wine (grapes) against the spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila Suzukii). This is done by determining and comparing the minimum effective dose of the active ingredient (when incorporated in a microgel) with the already approved formulation. The research is being conducted by Mrs. Anna Lena Bauer (former M.Sc. Ecotoxicology student at Universität Koblenz-Landau).

Adding to this, I have been an active student research assistant at the University for over a year. This year, I was also elected as the vice-president of Erasmus Student Network (ESN-IPAS Landau), due to which I get to organize events and meet new people from all over the globe. My enthusiasm to intertwine in different cultures has also boosted me to learn German and to network in scientific topics in general. Other than that, I am proficient in English, Hindi, Tamil, and know a bit of Sanskrit.

Since the time I started out as a master’s student in Landau, I have been a fervent reader of the EcotoxBlog. This blog not only communicates scientific research to the mass but also helps the reader to find suitable connections and networks within the broad spectrum of Ecotoxicology. My vision is to make the blog accessible on other social media platforms and provide intriguing content to our audience.

With that, I would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Jakob Wolfram and the former Senior Editor and Social Media Manager, Dr. Verena Sesin for believing in me and allowing me to step into these shoes full of responsibility.”