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Danilo Harms is new curator of the Department of Arachnology at the Center of Natural History (CeNak)
1 June 2016
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Photo: UHH/CeNak, Gerisch
Danilo Harms
On 1 June Danilo Harms took up his duties as curator of arachnology at the Center of Natural History (CeNak). Danilo studied Biology and Teaching at the Free University and Humboldt University in Berlin. For his Diploma thesis, he studied the phylogeny and systematics of the spider family ...
On 1 June Danilo Harms took up his duties as curator of arachnology at the Center of Natural History (CeNak). Danilo studied Biology and Teaching at the Free University and Humboldt University in Berlin. For his Diploma thesis, he studied the phylogeny and systematics of the spider family Mimetidae; a collaborative project between the Western Australian Museum in Perth and the FU Berlin that was financed by the DAAD. His PhD project at the University of Western Australia investigated the phylogeography and systematics of pseudoscorpions. Following his graduation as a Doctor of Philosophy in 2014, Danilo took on a position at Bennelongia Environmental Consultants in Perth where he led projects relating to invertebrate biodiversity assessments for industry, primarily in arid Australia.
“My main research interests are in arachnology and evolutionary systematics”, says Danilo Harms. “I use modern morphological and molecular methods to study the taxonomy and systematics of spiders and their relatives. Beside these ‘classic’ approaches of zoological research I’m interested in the phylogeography, ecology and conservation of arachnids”. Current research projects are focussing on the arachnids of the Australian and Asian bioregions, trap-door spiders, pseudoscorpions and the spinneret- and genital morphology of several spider groups”.
Danilo Harms: “One of my main aims apart from research is to modernise and digitalise the Arachnology collection at the CeNak. This is a very important collection and I would like to improve its accessibility for the public and scientific community. “