Nia Toshkova

(Assistant)

phone: (+359 89) 4069084; e-mail:

Born on: 10 March 1992 in Sofia.

Education: Sofia Unversity 'St. Kliment Ohridski', student in master’s programs 'Animal Physiology' and 'Algology and Mycology'; Bachelor of Science in Ecology.

Vertebrates Department

Research interests

Biology and distribution of the cave fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, distribution, biology and ecology of bats, biospeleology, science communication.

Research experience

University of Bern, Switzerland — 2012

Visiting scientist; Advisor: Prof. Raphaël Arlettaz. Carrying out some passive listening experiments on Barbastella barbastellus in captivity.

Max Plank Institute for Ornithology, Sensory Ecology Group — 2013

Assistant; Advisor: Dr Klemen Koselj. Field assistant, looking after captive bats and helping with behavioural tests.

Current projects

Distribution of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in caves, important bat roosts in Bulgaria

'Hidden wonders of the underground world' — a project aiming to evaluate the underground biodiversity of Godech municipality and popularise biospeleology in the broader society

Monitoring of bat populations in Bulgaria

Teaching kids at vacation schools in the museum

Representing the museum at the Sofia Science Festival and other science-communication events

Organising a students’ Journal Club in the museum

Expeditions

National cave expedition 'Tenengebirge', Austria — 2014

National cave expedition 'Radoina', Albania — 2013

National cave expedition 'Maya Arapit', Albania — 2010

International cave expedition in Ukraine — 2008

Numerous cave expeditions in Bulgaria

Diploma thesis

Research projects on distribution of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Bulgarian cave and effects on bats. For the work I won a student grant from the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation and we successfully found the pathogen for the first time in Bulgaria.

Publications

Franziska Günter, F., Beaulieu, M., Freiberg, K. F., Welzel, I., Toshkova, N., Žagar, A., Simčič, T., Fischer, K., 2020. Genotype-environment interactions rule the response of a widespread butterfly to temperature variation. — Journal of Evolutionary Biology. doi:10.1111/JEB.13623

Zhelyazkova, V., Toshkova, N., Goranov, S., 2016. Bats and Caves. — In: Speleological Studies of Caves in Godech Municipality (Part 1), Association of Speleoclubs in Sofia, Sofia, 51—62. [PDF]

Toshkova, N., Zhelyazkova, V., 2016. Expedition Hawaii. — BBC Knowledge Bulgaria, 72.

Toshkova, N., Zhelyazkova, V., 2016. Cave fungi. — In: Speleological Studies of Caves in Godech Municipality. Part 1. Sofia

Toshkova, N. L., Zhelyazkova, V. L., Puechmaille, S., Uzunov, B. A., Stoyneva-Gärtner, M. P., 2016. Review of the current status and future perspectives on Pseudogymnoascus destructans studies with reference to the species findings in Bulgaria. — Ann. Univ. Sof. 100 (2).

Petrov, B., Alexandrova, I., Karadakov, V., Georgieva, T., Toshkova, N., Zhelyazkova, V., 2014. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in Ponor Special Protection Area (Natura 2000), Western Bulgaria: Species Diversity and Distribution. — Acta zoologica bulgarica, 65 (Suppl. 5): 117—128.

Zhelyazkova, V., Toshkova, N., 2011. A Story about a Museum and Something More... — Ecology, Biology and Biotechnology, 6/2011: 72—78.