I have a special interest in the topic of life history theory as it can provide profound insights for proper species conservation and population management. Through my master's thesis I encountered issues such as senescence in wild animals and the difficulties that can be associated with data collection. Alongside resource availability, I was also interested in the influence of age and gender on variations in life history strategies and the effects of relatedness between individuals on individual traits. Furthermore I studied the influence of parental effects on the phenotype and fitness of offspring at an early age and the consequences for trade-offs between life history traits with advanced age. I have been able to work in numerous research groups and projects, and I would like to report on some of them here.