Kamenz, Carsten

Post-doctoral Researcher

Research Interests

Carsten Kamenz studied Biology in Leipzig and Berlin (Germany). His Diploma-thesis (comparable to a Masters degree) at the Humboldt-University, Berlin, began comparisons of the book lungs (respiratory organs) of Arachnida by histology and electron-microscopy. In 2004, Kamenz continued these investigations within his Ph.D. study. His research interests focus on comparative morphology, development and evolutionary transformations of aquatic-origin, land-adapted organs in Arthropoda (and particularly Chelicerata) from a phylogenetic perspective. Kamenz was awarded an Annette Kade Fellowship to visit the AMNH for three months (November 2005–January 2006) to develop his research on the phylogenetic significance of book lung microstructure in scorpion higher phylogeny by surveying a broad spectrum of recent scorpion genera, supervised by Lorenzo Prendini. He returned for two months (March–May, 2008) to study the ultrastructure of scorpion pectines in the Microscopy and Imaging Facility, supported by funds from Germany.