Even though coral reef ecosystems are teeming with symbiotic relationships, coral-associated fauna remains a relatively understudied topic. Over the course of her master's degree, Susanne centered her attention on symbiotic crustaceans and their obligate relationships with stony corals by researching the morphology and reproduction of a cryptic coral-dwelling gall crab species associated with corals of the family Pcolloporidae. 

During a scientific dive, she observed red fluorescence in gall crabs for the first time. This sparked her interest in this, especially for marine invertebrates, a poorly understood phenomenon. As a Ph.D. in the Habitat and Benthic Biodiversity Lab, Susanne wants to explore fluorescence in symbiotic crustaceans by choosing research questions that address fundamental and applied aspects of this fascinating new research alley.

Corals Coral symbiosis Crustaceans Fluorescence Biodiversity