I am interested in unravelling relationships of Rhododendron species using DNA sequence data to understand the evolution of the genus. For that aim, ploidy level information is a necessary prerequisite. I am especially interested in the evolution of phytochemical compounds (in collaboration with colleagues from the Jacobs University Bremen) since antimicrobial compounds in Rhododendron may be a previously unused resource of antibiotics for humans. A second interest is the evolution of genome size, which may be a factor to consider understanding why some groups diversify and others don´t. I am using flow cytometry, high-throughput sequencing of DNA (e.g., genotype-by-sequencing, Hyb-Seq) and RNA (transcriptomics). I am currently cooperating with the Rhododendron-Park Bremen and nurseries in the northwest of Germany.