Members of the chair
Chair of Entomology in 2022
Researchers
- Toomas Tammaru, Head of Chair, Professor of Entomology
- Toomas Esperk, Associate Professor in Zoology of Invertebrates
- Tiit Teder, Associate Professor of Entomology
- Robert Barry Davis, Research Fellow of Entomology
- Juhan Javoiš, Research Fellow of Entomology
- Ants Kaasik, Research Fellow of Biostatistics
- Erki Õunap, Research Fellow of Entomology
- Virve Sõber, Research Fellow of Entomology
- Sille Holm, Research Fellow of Entomology
- Anu Tiitsaar, Research Fellow of Entomology
Doctoral students
- Robin Gielen, Entomopathogenic fungi as selective factors on insect life history
- Leonard Owuraku Opare, Rearing density effects and selection potential of commercially important insect species
- Stênio Ítalo Araújo Foerster, Phylogenetic comparative analysis of body size in moths
- Nidal Fetnassi, Determinants of lepidopteran diversity in Estonia and Morocco
- Vineesh Nedumpally, Assembling a phylogenetic tree of Northern European moths
- Daniel Valdma, Patterns of butterfly diversity: from basic spatial ecology to conservation practices
- Auli Veske, Designing anthropogenic landscapes to promote butterfly diversity
Graduate students
- Kelly Kittus, Evolutionary ecology of colour traits in Lepidoptera
- Triin Lepik, Inter- and intraspecific variation in colour in Coccinellidae
- Anni Miller, Determinants of orthopteran diversity and community composition in open habitats
- Aivar-Erik Pärna, Impact of host ants on the habitat use of two ant-associated butterfly species
- Kadri Ude, Phylogenetic comparative analysis of wing shape in Geometridae
Toomas Tammaru
Head of the Department of Zoology, Professor of Entomology
Head of the Chair of Entomology
Mobile: 525 2420, office: Liivi 2, 433
toomas.tammaru@ut.ee
Research interests
- Evolutionary ecology, mainly relating to insect body size, oviposition and colouration
- Population ecology of herbivorous insects
- Phylogeny and distribution of Macrolepidoptera
Courses
- Evolutionary Ecology
- Insect Ecology
- Using Statistics in Ecology
- Scientific Writing for Graduate Students
Toomas has supervised 12 doctoral dissertations and 11 master's theses.
He is currently supervising 4 doctoral and 3 master students.
Publications Academic CV Wikipedia Personal webpage
Back to top
Toomas Esperk
Associate Professor in Zoology of Invertebrates
Mobile: 53 302 480, office: Liivi 2, 436
toomas.esperk@ut.ee
Research interests
- Effects of population density on insect life histories
- Intergenerational differences in Lepidoptera
- Insect growth curves
- Evolution of body size
Courses
- Invertebrate Zoology
- Field Course in Invertebrate Zoology
- Comparative Invertebrate Zoology
- Animal Ecophysiology
- Insect Ecology
- Biogeography
- Biodiversity in Estonia and Europe
- Field Course in Science Education
Toomas has supervised 1 doctoral dissertation, 3 master's theses and 3 bachelor's theses.
He is currently supervising 1 doctoral, 2 master and 2 bachelor students.
Tiit Teder
Associate Professor of Entomology
Mobile: 53 421 492, office: Liivi 2, 442
tiit.teder@ut.ee
Research interests
- Life history evolution (mainly in insects; body size, development time, growth rate, life span)
- Sexual size dimorphism, sex differences in development time, mortality and other life history traits
- Ecology (species richness, population dynamics) and conservation of butterflies
- Plant-insect interactions (herbivory, pollination)
Courses
- Insect Ecology
- Parasitology
- Field Course in Science Education
Tiit has supervised 5 doctoral dissertations, 8 master's theses and 12 bachelor's theses.
He is currently supervising 1 doctoral and 2 master students.
Publications Academic CV Personal webpage
Back to top
Robert Barry Davis
Research Fellow of Entomology
Office: Liivi 2, 440
robert.davis@ut.ee
Research interests
- Phylogenetic comparative analysis
- Supertrees
- Macroevolution
Courses
- Phylogenetic trees in Ecology and Evolution
Juhan Javoiš
Research Fellow of Entomology
Office: Liivi 2, 440
juhan.javois@ut.ee
Research interests
- Comparative ecology of Geometrid moths
Courses
- Insect Ecology
- Field Course in Invertebrate Zoology
Juhan has supervised 1 doctoral dissertation and 1 master's thesis.
Ants Kaasik
Research fellow of Biostatistics
Mobile: 53977954, home office
ants.kaasik@ut.ee
Research interests
- Using models with dependent observations in ecology
- Meta-analysis in atypical situations
Currently does not read courses; consults supervisors and students on statistics.
Ants has supervised 3 master's theses.
Erki Õunap
Research Fellow of Entomology
Phone: 737 5099, office: Liivi 2, 403
erki.ounap@ut.ee
Research interests
- Lepidopteran systematics, ecology and faunistics
Courses
- Entomology
- Insect Ecology
- Field Course in Invertebrate Zoology
Erki has supervised 1 doctoral dissertation and 2 master's theses.
He is currently supervising 1 doctoral student.
Virve Sõber
Research Fellow of Entomology
Mobile: 51 059 25, office: Liivi 2, 430
virve.sober@ut.ee
Research interests
- Ecology
- Plant-insect interactions
- Effect of land use on pollinator assemblages
- Plant-pollinator interactions in urban environments
- Conservation biology
- Conservation of native pollinators
Courses
- Green Entrepeneurship
- Insect Ecology
- Evolutionary Ecology
Virve has supervised 1 master's and 3 bachelor's theses.
She is currently supervising 4 bachelor students.
Publications Academic CV Wikipedia ORCID
Back to top
Sille Holm
Research Fellow of Entomology
Mobile: 5129610, office: Liivi 2, 440
sille.holm@ut.ee
Research interests
- Lepidoptera of tropical rainforests and their ecology
- Evolutionary ecology
- Insects as food and feed
Sille has supervised 1 master's and 1 bachelor's theses.
She is currently supervising 2 doctoral students.
Anu Tiitsaar
Research Fellow of Entomology
Research interests
- Ecology and trends in species richness of butterflies
- Monitoring and conservation of butterflies
Anu has supervised 3 master's theses.
Robin Gielen
Doctoral student
Mobile: 538 599 02, office: Liivi 2, 439
robin.gielen@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Entomopathogenic fungi as selective factors on insect life history
Academic interests
- Entomopathogens
- Life-history
- Insect-fungus interactions
Teaching activity
Supervises practical lessons under the course Invertebrate Zoology. He has supervised 1 bachelor's thesis.
Academic CV ORCID ResearchGate
Back to top
Leonard Owuraku Opare
Doctoral student
Mobile: 53952751, office: Liivi 2, 439
leonard.owuraku.opare@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Insects as food or feed
- Rearing density effects and selection potential of commercially important insect species
Academic interests
- Black soldier fly Hermetia illucens
- Population density
- Life-history
- Evolution
Supervises practical lessons under the course Using Statistics in Ecology.
Academic CV ORCID ResearchGate
Bck to top
Stênio Ítalo Araújo Foerster
Doctoral student
Office: Liivi 2, 439
stenio.foerster@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Phylogenetic comparative analysis of body size in moths
Academic interests
- Numerical ecology
- Macroecology
- Phylogenetic comparative analysis
Academic CV ORCID ResearchGate
Nidal Fetnassi
Doctoral student
Office: Liivi 2, 438
Phone number:
- +372 5394 2832 Est
- +212 626 415 846 Mar
Topic of dissertation
- Determinants of lepidopteran diversity in Estonia and Morocco
Academic interests
- Systematics
- Plant - Lepidoptera interactions
- Behavioural ecology
Academic CV ORCID ResearchGate
Back to top
Vineesh Nedumpally
Doctoral student
Office: Liivi 2, 438
vineesh.nedumpally@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Assembling a phylogenetic tree of Northern European moths
Academic interests
- Molecular phylogenetics
- Molecular ecology
- Population genetics
Publications ResearchGate
Back to top
Daniel Valdma
Doctoral student
Mobile: , office: Liivi 2
daniel.valdma@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Patterns of butterfly diversity: from basic spatial ecology to conservation practices
Academic interests
Teaching activity
Academic CV ResearchGate
Back to top
Auli Veske
Doctoral student
Mobile: , office: Liivi 2
auli.veske@ut.ee
Topic of dissertation
- Designing anthropogenic landscapes to promote butterfly diversity
Academic interests
Teaching activity
Kelly Kittus
Master student
Supervisor: Toomas Tammaru
Topic of master thesis
- Evolutionary ecology of colour traits in Lepidoptera
Areas of interest
- Evolution
- Lepidopterans
- Photography
Triin Lepik
Master student
Supervisors: Toomas Tammaru and Toomas Esperk
Topic of master thesis
- Inter- and intraspecific variation in colour in Coccinellidae
Areas of interest
- Ladybugs
- Collecting insects
- Photography
Anni Miller
Master student
Supervisor: Tiit Teder
Topic of master thesis
- Determinants of orthopteran diversity and community composition in open habitats
Main academic interests
- Orthoptera
- Species and biodiversity
- Landscape ecology
Aivar-Erik Pärna
Master student
Supervisors: Tiit Teder and Toomas Esperk
Topic of master thesis
- Impact of host ants on the habitat use of two ant-associated butterfly species
Areas of interest
- Hymenoptera, particularly Formicidae
- Myrmecophily
- Nature films/documentaries
Kadri Ude
Master student
Supervisor: Toomas Tammaru
Topic of master thesis
- Phylogenetic comparative analysis of wing shape in Geometridae
Areas of interest
- Evolutionary ecology
- Comparative studies
- Links between morphology and life history traits
Arevik Ghrmajyan
Exchange master student
Supervisor: Toomas Tammaru
Topic of master thesis
- A phylogenetic-comparative study of resting postures of Geometrid moths