Research topic: Ecology and Evolution of Plant-Insect Interactions, Molecular Ecology, Pollination and Myrmecology.

Education: M.Sc. in Ecology (2025), B.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Genetics (2021).

Current position: PhD Student at Hacettepe University; Coordinator of Functional Ecology Laboratory.

Gülseli Kırgıl is a PhD student in the Division of Ecology, Department of Biology at Hacettepe University. She graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul University, where she completed her bachelor’s thesis on the evolution of eusocial behavior in insects.

She joined our laboratory in 2022 and earned her Master’s degree in 2025. Her Master’s research focused on insect pollinator assemblages associated with plant groups differing in distribution patterns and endemism status in marl steppe ecosystems. She investigated these patterns using a combination of classical entomological methods and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding.

During this period, she contributed to multiple research projects investigating pollination dynamics based on floral functional traits, bat–beetle trophic interactions, habitat- and method-dependent changes in beetle community composition, and the monitoring of an invasive plant species. Also, she has served as the Coordinator of the Functional Ecology Laboratory since 2023.

She is particularly interested in ecology and evolution of the interspecific interactions of insects, with a primary focus on myrmecology in her doctoral research. She is also interested in scientific journalism, the philosophy of nature, and the history of theater.

Her full CV.