Graduate Students

In 2004, three diploma students from Germany worked in Goegap to collect data for their theses. At the moment one student is working on her PhD thesis in Goegap.

Melanie Schubert: From the University of Bayreuth (Germany). At the moment she is doing a PhD about the reasons of monogamy in elephant shrews.   She already worked as a field assistant in Goegap for three months in 2002. In 2004 she studied female reproductive strategies of striped mice during her diploma thesis. Communal nesting is common in the striped mouse and Melanie wanted to know which factors are responsible for this. Diploma thesis as PDF.

Christina Keller: From the University of Münster, Germany. Christina spent three months as field assistant in Goegap in 2003. Back in 2004, she studied the relationship between plant and small mammal biodiversity. As small mammals are the main predators of plants in Goegap, one could imagine that they have a significant impact on them and the composition of plant communities. Christina trapped and marked small mammals at ten different sites in Goegap and determined the number of plant species growing there. She found a highly significant relationship between small mammal and plant biodiversity. During her work she also discovered two species of small mammals that had not been recorded before in Goegap. Diploma thesis as PDF.

Carola Schneider: From the University of Münster (Germany). Carola spent three months as field assistant in Goegap in 2003. In 2004 she studied the male reproductive strategies of striped mice, asking many questions: Does male aggression increase during the breeding season? Answer: No! Do males patrol their territory boundaries? Answer: Yes! When are males group living, when are they roaming (visiting several females during different nights)? Answer: Depends on the distribution and availability of females. Diploma thesis as PDF.