BAY Antonia, MSc

After completing my bachelor's degree at Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg (Germany), I moved to Innsbruck to start my master’s program in Zoology. In my master's thesis, I validated a new molecular method for detecting Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of the notifiable bee disease American foulbrood.

Currently, I am doing my PhD at the Applied Animal Ecology Research Unit at the University of Innsbruck. As part of the eRNAmaris project, my research focuses on analysing environmental DNA (eDNA) and environmental RNA (eRNA) in marine systems. Because eDNA remains stable for long periods in seawater, it is limited in accurately estimating local fish populations, so our project explores the potential of eRNA, which degrades more quickly, for precise and non-invasive fish stock assessments. This work is part of a French-Austrian collaboration aimed at advancing sustainable monitoring strategies in marine research, with field studies taking place in the Bay of Biscay.

 

My projects