Our group covers a wide range of research questions from basic to applied aspects of zoological ecology. 
The role of aquatic protists within the planktonic microbial food web forms a focus of our experimental laboratory and field work, with an emphasis on the abiotic and biotic factors potentially affecting the occurrence of mixotrophic protists, their biodiversity and their contribution to the cycling of nutrients and energy in aquatic ecosystems. Within the framework of the EU initiative “Aquacosm” the effect of anthropogenically caused light pollution on freshwater mixotrophs will be investigated in the summer of 2018.
Through collaborations with colleagues from various regional institutions (e.g. Magistrat Salzburg, Haus der Natur Salzburg, various environmental consulting offices) we are further investigating the impact of ecological restoration on the macrofauna of urban streams, and are conducting studies aimed at population dynamics and improved management strategies for the protection of endangered amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans and others. In collaboration with Stephen Wickham and Jana Petermann we are involved in a long-term monitoring project in the National Park “Hohe Tauern”, investigating the effects of abiotic parameters on the species composition in high alpine lakes in the context of global change. Our approach is experimentally oriented and methods include microscopy, experimental design and field work.