I am currently University Lecturer in Department of Biology. Previously, I have worked as an assistant and senior assistant in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä for more than ten years, and I
was one of the senior and founder members of the Centre of Excellence in
Evolutionary Ecology led by professor Rauno Alatalo from 1999 – 2005 in the
Department of Biological and Environmental Science at the University of
Jyväskylä. I have been the
leader of a medium-sized research group since the middle of the1990s. An average my research group have one or two doctoral students and up to four undergraduate students.

The basic theme of my research and my research group’s resolves five areas of
ecological interactions and community ecology namely: (i) intraspecific
interactions (behavioural ecology such as territorial behaviour, parental
care, intrasexual competition and dispersal), (ii) interspecific
interactions (mainly predator-prey, host-parasites interactions, intra
guild predation and interspecific competition, frugivorous-plant interactions),
(iii) interspecific comparisons in evolutionary biology (e.g. evolutionry
ecology in host –parasite interactions, evolution of generalist and specialist
species, (iv) community ecology (geographical variation in species richness,
turn-over of community, species  abundance and occupancy frequency distribution patterns) and
(v) applied ecology (conservation biology, urban ecology, landscape
ecology). I am working on a diversity of organisms including birds, mammals,
insects and plants.

My main
principles of teaching are based on the deep lead process: (i) individual encounter, (ii) constructing confidence, (iii)
intellectual stimulation, and (iv) inspiring motivation and feedback from
students and from colleagues. The position of a university a
lecturer is demanding, as one has to simultaneously be an enthusiastic teacher
and an excellent scientist. The time allocation of different duties is often
problematic but also positively challenging. My idea is that my own active
research is a sound base for good teaching - without good teaching there is not
high quality research and vice versa.

My main
principles of teaching are a multi-level
approach to science. This is based on a solid knowledge of theory to enable a student to develop creativity by giving practical
exercises in ecology and data analysis to improve his/her professional self-esteem. How I do this?
I support critical evaluation by students of scientific works and text books in
small group discussions and by role-games. Through small group
discussions, role-games and writing essays, students will discover their
strengths and weaknesses by acknowledging alternative explanations or
approaches to scientific papers, challenges in conservation biology or to
environmental problems. By learning to critically evaluate scientific papers,
students are also better able to conduct their own research. I think that this
approach, together with a more formal teaching program, will lead to the creation of ideas and the formulation of
hypotheses in students, to enable
them to conduct their own research
projects. This, in my opinion, is the best
method to increase in students individual creativity and for them to
gain positive educational experiences.

Currently I am teaching:

Lecture: Introduction to Ecology

Lecture:
Population ecology

Lecture:
Introduction of statistics in biology

Cource:
Field course of terrestrial vertebrates

Seminar: Seminar in bachelor's degree.