Dr. Meredith Schuman

Biography

Meredith (Merry) C. Schuman studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she received her B.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Philosophy. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE) in Jena, Germany, and continued to earn her doctorate at Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, in 2012, as part of the International Max Planck Research School. She was appointed as a group leader at the Department of Molecular Ecology at MPICE, where she initiated her own research program. From 2014 to 2017, she served as a Junior Group Leader affiliated with the German Center for Integrated Biodiversity Research (iDiv). In 2018, she moved to the University of Zurich (UZH) as a guest professor and later as an assistant professor. Schuman has received multiple awards and scholarships from the Max Planck Society, including the Otto Hahn Medal, in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements. She is actively engaged in outreach and has initiated scientific working groups like the International Team "Genes in Space." Her research program focuses on molecular ecology and investigates the spatial and temporal variation of genetic functional diversity and its consequences on a landscape scale. Broadly, her work examines why living organisms differ and the ecological implications of these differences.

Research Interests