Freya is fascinated by microbial ecology and enjoys the challenge of trying to understand these complicated systems.

She completed a Bachelor of Science in Animal Ecology at Iowa State University with a focus on conservation and renewable resources. Subsequently, she obtained a double Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Groningen and the University of Uppsala.

During her two master's theses, Freya researched various biological systems and gained lab experience in both molecular biology and microbiology. She investigated the dynamics of pathogenic communities to better understand higher-order microbial ecosystem interactions. Furthermore, she conducted research on gene expression in insects.

Freya likes thinking outside the box and loves to find creative ways to solve problems.

Her colleagues describe her as hard working, very motivated and someone who likes to take a deep dive into content strait away. She is knowledge-driven and keeps asking questions until she has all the answers and is capable of quickly extracting the main point from large amounts of data and translating it into useful advice.

In her spare time, she enjoys baking new recipes, traveling, or taking photo walks around town.