Lara Meyer
Lara Meyer
Research activities
Since July 2026: PhD candidate at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.
Member of the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence NaviSense: The Sensory Basis, Mechanisms and Impact of Animal Navigation. Supervisors: Prof. Dr Henrik Mouritsen and Dr Takaoki Kasahara.
October 2025 – November 2025: Student assistant/tutor for the Bachelor’s course ‘Biochemistry of the Cell’ at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Supervisors: Dr Helge Meyer and Dr Rabea Bartölke.
May 2024 – August 2024: Field research assistant in Greece (Schinias National Park, Marathonas) with the research group of Dr Pauline Fleischmann, Research Group Fellow SFB 1372 – Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.
Research project: Investigating magnetoreception in the desert ant Cataglyphis nodus – behavioural observation of antennae movement under horizontal elimination of the geomagnetic field.
09/2020 – 03/2021: Academic exchange semester in the Evolutionary Biomechanics Group at Imperial College London, United Kingdom.
Research project: Ontogenetic biomechanics and nanoindentation of the head capsule and mandibles in leaf-cutter ants. Supervisors: Dr David Labonte and Dr Frederik Püffel.
10/2019 – 06/2020: Student assistant/tutor for the Bachelor’s degree courses in Zoology and Botany at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen. Supervisor: Prof. Dr Jan-Henning Dirks.
Degree course
2023–2026: Master of Science in Biology at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.
Thesis: Cryptochrome 4 signalling interactions in avian magnetoreception characterised by Förster resonance energy transfer in a quail retinal cell line. Supervisors : Dr Rabea Bartölke and Prof. Dr Karin Dedek. Neurosensorics/Animal Navigation research group.
2018–2022: International degree programme in Biomimetics (B.Sc.) at the University of Applied Sciences, Bremen.
Thesis: Biomechanical investigation of the locust’s hind femur for bio-inspired structural reinforcement; supervised by Prof. Dr Jan-Henning Dirks (Biological Structures and Biomimetics Group, Bremen University of Applied Sciences) and Dr David Labonte (Evolutionary Biomechanics Group, Imperial College London).
Scholarships
February 2019 – April 2026: Scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation).
Academic publications
Püffel, F., Meyer, L., Imirzian, N., Roces, F., Johnston, R., & Labonte, D. (2023). Developmental biomechanics and age polyethism in leaf-cutter ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 290(2000), 20230355. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0355