Dr Kim Mortega is a scientist at the Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research Berlin. Her recent citizen science projects include The nightingale project (2018–19) and WissensFluss: Die Berliner Panke (2021) with a focus on urban nature in Berlin. WissensFluss connects Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s artwork Berl-Berl with the current state of Berlin wetlands and integrates public engagement and knowledge transfer for a broader audience. Her research and teaching interests are conservation, biodiversity, and urban ecology with a special interest in birds. She regularly teaches field courses in tropical ecology and conservation for the Tropical Biology Association in Africa. Mortega received her doctorate in genetics and evolution of songbirds at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.
Photo credit: Dr Kim Mortega © Pablo Castagnola