About

I do not update this webpage anymore. If you would like to visit my research group at METU IMS please click on the link below:

Aquatic Ecology Research Group : ae.ims.metu.edu.tr

I am an ecologist and an assistant professor at the Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University (METU). I study aquatic ecology and community ecology. My research focuses on understanding how species assemble as communities in space and time and how they respond to changes. In simple terms, I study questions like why some lakes are swarmed with diversity of aquatic plants, while other are devoid of all; or why white-backed woodpecker occurs only in a limited portion of its presumed habitat -forests- although it spans wide extends; or how planktonic organisms, which sustains all remaining aquatic organisms, react to long term changes in climate or antropogenic pressure. I had my PhD at Aarhus University working with Erik Jeppesen and Jens-Christian Svenning. Previously, I was graduated from METU and had my Master studies at Meryem Beklioglu’s limnology lab. You can find my publications here and cv here.

Apart from being an ecologist, I am also a keen birdwatcher and a nature photographer. Most of my bird photographs are taken in Turkey; especially in İğneada, which is a rare and amazing swamp ecosystem on the coasts of west Black Sea. I was lucky to visit that location regularly for three years during my graduate studies for monitoring and experimental work. However, I have also travelled across Turkey sometimes even after a single bird. This blog is mainly to share some of my photographs. For further photos of mine, you can visit my portfolios in trakus.org (birds), tramem.org (mammals) and herptil.com.tr (reptiles-amphibians).