Dr. Heike Scherf
Function: Research Fellow
Address:
Universität Tübingen
Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Abt. Paläoanthropologie
Rümelinstr. 23
D-72070 Tübingen
Office: Room 515, Hauptgebäude, 2. OG
Tel.: +49-(0)7071-29-76523
E-Mail: heike.scherf[at]ifu.uni-tuebingen.de
Consulting hours:
by arrangement
Dr. Heike Scherf
Dr. Scherf’s research interests lie in the effects of locomotor loads on internal bony structures of long bones in primates including fossil and extant humans. Analyses of locomotion related structures in extant species are used as comparative basis to interpret the bony morphology in long bones of fossil species with regard to their preferred type of locomotion. In this field of research special attention is paid to:
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Functional adaptation of cancellous bone
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Quantification of the trabecular architecture
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Functional structures in cortical bone
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Application of high resolution CT to fossil bones
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Estimation of habitual locomotor loads
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Estimation of stresses in bone structures caused by habitual locomotion
As accurate handling of digital data, e.g. CT data, build the first step for the interpretation of internal structures, Dr. Scherf has put an additional research focus on the development of reproducible and accurate computerized pre-processing and analysing methods for complex internal bone structures (e.g. cancellous bone).
Curriculum Vitae
Current position
| since 11/2009 | Research Fellow in the Paleoanthropology Section of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoecology (HEP), Institute for Archaeological Sciences at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen |
Referee for peer-reviewed journals
- Journal of Human Evolution
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology
- HOMO
- Medical Engineering & Physics
- Medical Physics
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B
- Palaeontologica Electronica
- Mammalian Biology
- The Open Anthropology Journal
- Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Referee for funding institutions:
- The Leakey Foundation
- The National Science Centre (Poland)
Grants
| 10/2010 | DFG Major Research Instrumentation program, funding for a high resolution computed tomography system (~180 k Euro) |
| 2005 | DFG Travel Grant for the IX. International Mammalogical Congress (Sapporo, Japan) |
| 06-08/2004 | Support for PhD thesis by Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (Frankfurt/Main, Germany) |
| 2002 | Ermann Stiftung, funding for high resolution CT scans for PhD project |
| 2001 - 2003 | Ph.D. fellowship for women in natural science and engineering of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, granted by Darmstadt University of Technology |
Professional meetings organized
| 12/2011 | Meeting StEvE (Students in Evolution and Ecology) Eberhard Karls University Tübingen |
| 02/2006, 07/2005 | Fundraising for the project ‚MultiMedia-Materialien Messel‘of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (Frankfurt/Main) |
Students supervised
| 2014 | H. Mutlu, M.Sc. „Third trochanter (trochanter tertius) occurrence on human femora from Neolithic, Iron Age, Middle Ages and recent times in Southwestern Germany”, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany |
| 2012 – 2013 | R. Tilgner, M.Sc. „GPU-basierte Rekonstruktion von μCT-Daten“, HTWK Leipzig, Germany |
| 2010 | N. Rexin, B.Sc. „Ein Algorithmus zur Detektion der Spongiosa-Ausrichtung in Langknochen“, HTWK Leipzig, Germany |
| 2008 | F. Gantier, M.Sc. „Segmentierung von CT-Datensätzen fossiler Schädelfunde“, HTWK Leipzig, Germany and Groupe esaipe (St Barthélemy d’Anjou, France) |
| 2007 – 2008 | R. Tilgner, B.Sc. and internship „Entwicklung eines Algorithmus zur Segmentierung von komplexen Strukturen aus CT-Datensätzen“, HTWK Leipzig, Germany |
| Co-supervision | |
| 2005 – 2006 | E. Mohrmann, Diploma thesis „Die lokomotionsabhängige Ausbildung der Spongiosa-Struktur im Caput ossis femoris bei Primaten“, Philipps-Universität Marburg |
Universtiy Teaching
| Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, 2009-2014 | Imaging and Morphometrics |
| Metrik, Epigenetik, Statistik | |
| Research Design | |
| Primate Evolutionary Biology | |
| MPI EVA Leipzig, EVAN workshop May 28.-29.2009 | High-resolution CT (Hr-CT) – key towards a new morphology |
Former activities
| 09/2006 – 10/2009 | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Human Evolution (Leipzig, Germany), Postdoctoral fellow |
| - Development and supervision of projects on computer vision | |
| - Development of multidisciplinary research programs on biomechanics | |
| - Research on functional adaptation of bone | |
| - Supervision of BSc and MSc students | |
| 01/2005 – 06/2006 | Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (Frankfurt/Main, Germany), Academic Staff, in charge of the project ‘MultiMedia-Materialien Messel’ of the Senckenberg Nature Research Society |
| - Organization and supervision of fossil 3D reconstructions | |
| - Preparation of scientific results for popular science presentations | |
| - Assisting in the organization of fundraising events | |
| - Identification of potential EU funding programs | |
| 12/2003 – 09/2004 | Grube Messel gGmbH, (Messel, Germany), Academic Freelancer |
| - Virtual 3D reconstruction and animation of the UNESCO World Heritage Messel Pit Fossil Site | |
| - Virtual animation of skeletal elements to visualize their internal structures | |
| 11/2000 – 04/2001 | Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University (Frankfurt/Main, Germany), Institute of Zoology, Academic Assistant |
| - Editing manuscripts for publication | |
| 12/1997 – 08/2000 (intermittent employment) | Hessian State Museum Darmstadt (Darmstadt, Germany), (with small interruptions) Department of Geology - Palaeontology & Mineralogy, Research Assistant |
| - Assisting in a new collection inventory and preparation of geological samples | |
| 08/1997 – 09/1997 | Montan -Consulting GmbH (Duisburg, Germany), Academic Trainee |
| - Coal exploration | |
| 04/1997 – 07/1997 | Darmstadt University of Technology (Darmstadt, Germany) Geological-Palaeontological Institute, Academic Assistant |
| - Practical training of students |
Education
| 10/2000 – 07/2006 | Ph.D. at the Darmstadt University of Technology (Darmstadt, Germany), in cooperation with the Senckenberg Research Insitute (Frankfurt/Main, Germany) Ph.D. thesis: „Locomotion-related femoral trabecular architectures in Primates“, supervised by F. Schrenk, D. Schumann and B. Herkner |
| 10/1993 – 05/2000 | Darmstadt University of Technology (Darmstadt, Germany) Major: Geology – Palaeontology Qualification: Diploma degree (Dipl. Geol.) |
| Diploma thesis: “Funktionelle Bedeutung der femoralen Konstruktion bei ausgewählten Primaten und Insektivoren“ (Functional implications of the femoral construction of selected primates and insectivores), supervised by F. Schrenk and D. Schumann | |
| Geological mapping thesis: "Strukturgeologisch-petrographische Aufnahme des Profils Ebnath-Trevesen im Fichtelnaabtal / NE-Bayern" (Mapping of the structural geologic-petrographic profile Ebnath-Trevesen in the valley of the Fichtelnaab / NE Bavaria), supervised by P. Blümel and E. Stein |
Traineeship
| 10/1999 – 12/1999 | Hessian State Museum Darmstadt (Darmstadt, Germany), Department of Geology - Palaeontology & Mineralogy |
| - Preparation of thin sections |
Publications
Konidaris, G.E., Koufos, G.D. (2016). Proboscidea, in: Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S. (Eds.), Palaeontology of the upper Miocene vertebrate localities of Nikiti (Chalkidiki Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece). Geobios 49, 37-44.
Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S., Konidaris, G.E. (2016). Aves, in: Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S. (Eds.), Palaeontology of the upper Miocene vertebrate localities of Nikiti (Chalkidiki Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece), Geobios 49, 29-36.
Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S., Vlachou, T.D., Konidaris, G.E. (2016). Synthesis, in: Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S. (Eds.), Palaeontology of the upper Miocene vertebrate localities of Nikiti (Chalkidiki Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece), Geobios 49, 147-154.
Konidaris, G.E., Koufos, G.D., Kostopoulos, D.S., Merceron, G. (2016). Taxonomy, biostratigraphy and palaeoecology of Choerolophodon (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in the Miocene of SE Europe-SW Asia: implications for phylogeny and biogeography. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14, 1-27.
Tourloukis, V., Thompson, N., Garefalakis, C., Karkanas, P., Konidaris, G.E., Panagopoulou, E., Harvati, K. (2016). New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula, Southern Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology 41, 68-83.
Konidaris, G.E., Tourloukis, V., Kostopoulos, D.S., Thompson, N., Giusti, D., Michailidis, D., Koufos, G.D., Harvati, K. (2015). Two new vertebrate localities from the Early Pleistocene of Mygdonia Basin (Macedonia, Greece): Preliminary results. Comptes Rendus Palevol 14, 353-362.
Panagopoulou, E., Tourloukis, V., Thompson, N., Athanassiou, A., Tsartsidou, G., Konidaris, G.E., Giusti, D., Karkanas, P., Harvati, K. (2015). Marathousa 1: a new Middle Pleistocene archaeological site from Greece. Antiquity Project Gallery 89.
Konidaris, G.E., Roussiakis, S.J., Theodorou, G.E. & Koufos, G.D. (2014). The Eurasian occurrence of the shovel-tusker Konobelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea) as illuminated by its presence in the late Miocene of Pikermi (Greece). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34, 1437-1453.
Konidaris G.E. & Koufos, G.D. (2013). Late Miocene Proboscidea (Mammalia) from Macedonia and Samos Island, Greece: preliminary results. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 87, 121-140.
Vasileiadou, K., Konidaris, G. & Koufos, G.D. (2012). New data on the micromammalian locality of Kessani (Thrace, Greece) at the Mio-Pliocene boundary. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 92, 211-237.
Koufos G.D. & Konidaris G.E. (2011). Late Miocene Carnivores of the Greco-Iranian Province: Composition, guild structure and palaeoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 305, 215-226.
Koufos G.D, Kostopoulos D.S., Vlachou, T.D. & Konidaris G.E. (2011). A synopsis of the late Miocene Mammal Fauna of Samos Island, Aegean Sea, Greece. Geobios 44, 237-251.
Konidaris G.E. & Koufos G.D. (2009). The Late Miocene Mammal Faunas of Mytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece: new collection, 8. Proboscidea. In: Koufos G.D. & Nagel, D. (ed.), The Late Miocene Mammal Faunas of Samos. Beiträge zur Paläontologie, Wien, pp. 139-155.