Jonas obtained his Bachelor and Master of Science in Biology at the University of Leuven (Belgium) and completed his PhD focused on monitoring freshwater communities using eDNA metabarcoding in 2018. Jonas developed a number of pioneering techniques during his PhD, including the detection of spawning in a threatened species using eDNA and the use of an innovative in-silico pipeline for optimising primers for metabarcoding projects. His analytical and empirical approach has resulted in him commencing a new position in 2019 at the Foundazione Edmund Mach in Trentino Italy as a lead researcher within the Eco-AlpsWater project. Jonas still remains as an affiliate of the EcoDNA team providing his analytical expertise for some key projects.