Prof. doc. Mgr. Jan Růžička, Ph.D.
The head of the research team. Specialized in taxonomy of carrion beetles and related groups (Coleoptera: Staphylininae: Silphinae, Leiodidae: Cholevinae and Coloninae, Agyrtidae). Interested in distribution of these groups mostly through Palaearctic and Oriental Regions, and in morphology of their immature stages.
Ing. Pavel Jakubec, Ph.D.
Principal investigator and founding member of SYFE lab at CZU. Set to solve the big questions in thermal ecology and forensic entomology. His favorite animals are of course beetles, especially those necrophagous, but he is also dedicated preacher of diptera love around this beetle-centric lab. Leasure activities includes designing experiments, data handling, programming in R, scientific and grant proposal writing, as well as running, cycling and photographing nature and people around.
Ing. Martin Novák, Ph.D.
Specializes in two groups of beetles; the necrophagous Silphinae and the bioluminescent Lampyridae. He is an expert on morphology, and has redescribed the larvae of several forensically important carrion beetles and all firefly species in Czechia. He is interested in the rearing of insects, ecology, life histories and behavior, and the bioluminescent communication of fireflies. Martin is also curious about the technical aspects of research and has participated in innovating the methods used by our team, like using movie techniques to create a large number of high-quality photographs of beetles in a short amount of time, improving fluid preservation methods for long-term storage of insect specimens, or method for analyzing color from photographs to determine quantitative changes in specimens.
Ing. Karolina Mahlerová, Ph.D.
Specializes in molecular phylogenetics of carrion beetles, particularly the tribe Silphini. She is currently developing expertise in museomics and exploring the potential of museum collections for genetic studies. Her research interests include phylogenetic reconstruction, species delimitation, and DNA extraction from historical insect specimens (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera) and other low-yielding samples.
MSc. Liliana Patricia Salinas Sandoval
My research specializes in the systematics and phylogenetics of the beetle families Leiodidae (Coleoptera: Cholevinae) and Agyrtidae (Coleoptera: Pterolomatinae), with a particular focus on selected lineages from Eastern Europe and North America. It integrates morphological examination with molecular data to investigate species diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic patterns.
Bc. Alesiia Soifer
I am a Masteri’s student in the Nature Conservation program at the Faculty of Environmental Science. My final thesis focuses on the molecular phylogenetics of the genus Thanatophilus. My long-term goal is to continue my academic education at the PhD level and conduct in-depth research on the systematics and morphology of carrion beetles (Silphidae: Silphinae, Thanatophilus).
Plk. Ing. Hana Šuláková, Ph.D.
Info comming soon.
Ing. et Bc. David Sommer
Info comming soon.