How many species exist here on Earth? After more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still do not know. However, estimates suggest millions of species are yet to be discovered and described – a prospect equally daunting and fascinating.

To me, this prospect is utterly fascinating. As part of my doctoral thesis project, I am trying to answer this question focusing on two genera of parasitic wasps in the jewel wasp family Eulophidae. By combining modern molecular tools and traditional morphological methods, I am doing a much-needed taxonomic revision of the two genera Oomyzus and Quadrastichus (Tetrastichinae). My thesis project includes non-destructive barcoding and whole-genome sequencing of wasps no larger than a few millimetres, some of which are decades old museum specimens. The project has expanded to also include a large-scale phylogeny of the subfamily Tetrastichinae, examining the current genus boundaries. My PhD supervisors are Niklas Wahlberg, Christer Hansson, Jadranka Rota and Anna Runemark.

Before I dove into the intriguing world of parasitic wasps, I also did my undergraduate studies at Lund University. During my master thesis project I looked into the phylogenetic relationships of the tephritid fly genus Tephritis, as well as the different species' use of host plants. After defending my master thesis I briefly worked on a nature conservation project of the recently extinct Swedish population of Reverdin's blue, Plebejus argyrognomon, to genetically determine its closest relatives for a possible re-introduction.