Research focus:
– ecophysiology of fossorial rodents
– fur adaptations of fossorial mammals
Contact:
e-mail: frvej@seznam.cz
tel.: +420 739 553 824
room: B 257
CV
Born: 1994 in Třebíč, Czech Republic
Education:
– since 2019: Ph.D. in Zoology, University of South Bohemia
Doctoral thesis: Non-volant mammal diversity along tropical atitudinal gradients of Papua New Guinea
Supervisor: Mgr. Matěj Lövy Ph.D., Consultant: prof. RNDr. Vojtěch Novotný, CSc.; MSc. Pierre-Henri Fabre, Ph.D.
– 2016 – 2019: MSc. in Zoology, University of South Bohemia, with honors.
Master’s thesis: The detection of thermal windows in subterranean rodents with varied degree of sociality
Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Radim Šumbera, Ph.D.
– 2013 – 2016: BSc. in Biology, University of South Bohemia.
Bachelor’s thesis: Charakteristiky srsti podzemních hlodavců ve vztahu k jejich termální biologii
Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Radim Šumbera, Ph.D.
Professional appointments:
– since 2023: Researcher, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
– 2020: Researcher, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
– since 2019: Researcher, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
– 2017-2018: Researcher, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Internships and field experience:
– 2022: American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA (comparative measurements, documentation and sampling of New Guinean mamma) (2 weeks)
– 2022: Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (comparative measurements, documentation and sampling of New Guinean mammals) (3 weeks)
– 2022: Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (comparative measurements, documentation and sampling of New Guinean mammals) (1 week)
– 2022: Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, Australia (comparative measurements, documentation and sampling of New Guinean mammals) (5 weeks)
– 2022: Institut des Sciences de l´Evolution, University of Montpellier, Francie (Molecular barcoding of New Guinean non-volant mammals) (11 weeks)
– 2021: Western Cape, South Africa (Field research of ecology of local mole-rats) (3 weeks)
– 2021: Institut des Sciences de l´Evolution, University of Montpellier, France (Molecular barcoding of mammals from Papua New Guinea) (11 weeks)
– 2019: Field data collection, Papua New Guinea (6 months)
– 2017: Debrecen, Hungary (Taking part in conservational program for critically endangered blind mole rats Nannospalax leucodon transsylvanicus) (1 week)
– 2017: University of Pretoria, South African Republic (Fur and surface temperature (IR) research in local mole-rats) (1 month)
– 2017: Field expedition, Angola (Phylogeography of small mammals of Angola) (3 weeks)
Fellowships and awards:
– 2022: Australian Museum Research Institute Visiting Fellowship (Morphological assessment of the taxonomy of Papuan non-volant mammals based on molecular results, Principal investigator)
– 2021: Barrande Fellowship Programme (Molecular barcoding of New Guinean mammals from the Finisterre Range, Principal investigator)
– 2020: Revealing diversity on our doorstep: A community based multi-taxa survey along Mt. Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea; National Geographic Grant for Biodiversity Exploration and Discovery GR-000047680 (project manager and designer of the mammalian part)
– 2020: Description of morphology and anatomy of collected specimens of non-volant mammals from Papua New Guinea with regard to taxonomy; Biology Centre CAS grant (IBERA), Principal investigator
– 2017-2019: Problems and solutions of thermoregulation in subterranean mammals;Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) 17-19896S (co-investigator)
Teaching
PřF JU:
– Practicals in vertebrate zoology (KZO/157, co-instructor)
– Field work I (FBI/002, co-instructor)
Supervising
Master’s theses in prep.:
Vojtěch Kovařík: Phylogenetic and taxonomic analysis of penial morphology in rodents of New Guinea (since 2022, consultant)
Master’s theses:
Okena, D.S. (2022): Ecology of mammal communities along altitudinal gradient in Papua New Guinea (PNG – University of Technology, consultant)
Publications
Research papers:
2021
Vejmělka, F., Okrouhlík, J., Lövy, M., Šaffa, G., Nevo, E., Bennett, N.C., & Šumbera, R. (2021). Heat dissipation in subterranean rodents: The role of body region and social organization. Scientific Reports 11, 2029. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81404-3.
2020
Volf, M., Laitila, J. E., Kim, J., Sam, L., Sam, K., …, Vejmelka, F., … & Segar, S. T. (2020). Compound Specific Trends of Chemical Defences in Ficus Along an Elevational Gradient Reflect a Complex Selective Landscape. Journal of chemical ecology. https://doi.org/10.
Chapters in monographs:
2022
Vejmělka, F. (2022). Monitoring your Mammals. In C. Redmond (Ed.). PNG Comunity Conservation – Guidebook for conservation and biodiversity monitoring (pp. 59-74). Madang: New Guinea Binatang Research Centre.
Conferences:
– 2023: Vejmělka F., Okrouhlík J. Šaffa G., Lövy M., a Šumber R. Vliv vnějšího prostředí a biologie druhu na izolační parametry srsti podzemních hlodavců (The effect of environment and biology of the species on fur parameters in fossorial rodents). Zoologické dny 2023 in Brno (talk).
– 2022: Vejmělka F. Student Experience and Mobility. Meeting of the Directors Generals for High Education in EU, Paris (speaker).
– 2020: Vejmělka F., Lövy M., & Novotný V. Diversity of non-volant mammals along a complete altitudinal gradient in Papua New Guinea. Zoologické dny 2020 in Olomouc (talk)
– 2019: Vejmělka F., Okrouhlík J., Lövy M., and Šumbera R. The detection of thermal windows in subterranean rodents with varied degree of sociality. Zoologické dny 2019 in Brno (talk)
– 2018: Vejmělka F. Thermal insulation of subterranean rodents ‑ complex approach and preliminary results. Subterranean Rodent Workshop and 7th European Ground Squirrel Meeting in Budapest (talk)
– 2018: Vejmělka F. Thermal insulation of chtonic rodents – can we observe the phenomenon of social thermoregulation? Inter-University Seminar 2018 in Mohelno (talk)
– 2016: Vejmělka F., Šumbera R. (2016). Charakteristiky srsti podzemních hlodavců ve vztahu k jejich termální biologii. Zoologické dny 2016 v Českých Budějovicích (poster)
Links:
Article for Australian Museum
Invited lecture for Australian Museum Research Institute in Sydney