Jana Hörsch - Master's student at University of Konstanz
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Growing up in the countryside I was always surrounded by domestic and wild animals. As a child, I was always keen to help with the animals and especially to familiarize my aunt’s alpacas to the halter, or to help when cats, ducks or alpacas had medical issues. However, after a school internship in a veterinary practice, my interest shifted towards human medicine. Therefore, I started a year of voluntary work at the rescue service of the German Red Cross after I had finished school. Having seen daily life in the clinics, I decided not to continue in this direction, but to study the science of life and living things; I started to study Biology at the University of Konstanz.
At the beginning of my studies I was mostly interested in cell biology and biochemistry, but throughout the semesters my interest changed. I think I was inspired after reading a book by Jane Goodall about her research on chimpanzees. As my curiosity for animal behaviour increased, I started to read more about the amazing cognitive and behavioural abilities of animals. Then the time for my final bachelor thesis had come and I had the chance to start a little research project in this field. For my thesis, I investigated group composition and collective problem solving in zebra finches, looking at whether leadership qualities, dominance status or social network position are important for producing information within the flock. After one semester abroad, in Estonia, I’m now continuing my studies with a master’s degree in Konstanz. |
