Dr. Maddy Fellmeth
Where science meets ancient wisdom
As a biologist with a PhD and a shamanic practitioner, I bring together modern science and Indigenous wisdom.
With more than 15 years of experience giving interviews and speaking to audiences, I have appeared on stage, television and radio.
Radio Interviews and features
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More Interviews and Media Features
2021-2026
"Kaninchen im Tierporträt" - Interview with Hörzu on 03.2026
"Der Berg der Stille" - Interview with Mountain TV for a korean nature documentation
"Stadtökologie" - Interview with Jasmin Kosubek on 03.2025
"Change & Transformation" - Invited Article for the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Europe on 12.12.24
"Pestizide schäden Fortpflanzung von Wildbienen" - Article in Aurelia Magazin, Winter 24/25
"Schamanismus & Dein Krafttier" - Interview with Vlasta Hava by "Feminine Flow" on 11.11.24
"Die Sprache der Natur verstehen lernen" - Interview with Pierre Franckh on 30.05.24
"Bienen & Biodiversität" - Article in Aurelia Magazin, Winter 23/24
"Spannungsfeld Natur - zwischen Stress und Anpassaung" - Article in MINT-Zirkel on 27.09.23
"Wissenschaft & Schamanismus" - Interview with Claudia Acklin from Podcast "Nature & The city" on 17.09.23
"Umweltspäher als Frühwarnsystem für gefährdete Bienen" - Gastartikel in MINTZirkel on 30.05.23
"Stress: Die unglaubliche Kraft der Natur" - Interview with Aurelia Stiftung on 26.01.23
"Von der Vielfalt verlassen" - Article in Aurelia Magazin, Winter 22/23
"Kommunikation in der Natur - Reading in the 24 h Event of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Europe (FSSE) on 19.11.22
"Hier ist was im Busch" - Article in MINTZirkel on 08.07.22
"Stress & the city" - Interview with Freeman Fly from Freeman TV on 20.09.22
"Kein Schweigen im Walde" - Reading in Weinstadt on 20.07.22
"Transformation in der Natur" - Key Note Speaker on the Konferenz "Schamanismus & Transformation" of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Europe (FSSE) on 10.06.22
"Wiederansiedlung von Wildkaninchen" - Key Note Speaker at the Niederwildtag of the LJV Sachsen on 23.04.22
"Hier ist was im Busch" - Article in Aurelia Magazin, Winter 21/22
"Kein Schweigen im Walde" - Reading Glen Eira Library in Melbourne on 24.11.21
"Rabbits in the city" - Talk at the 24h Event of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Europe (FSSE) on 19.11.21
"Pestizide vom Polenmarkt" - Interview with Arte on 07.09.21
"Blumensamen statt Kaugummi" - Interview with 3sat nano on 02.07.21
"Podcast leicht gemacht" - Workshop with Peter Kohl at NaWik-Konferenz on 06.05.21
"Wildtiere erobern die Stadt" - Interview with SWR2 Wissen on 12.04.21
"Stress & The city" - Interview in Science Chat of the University Bremen on 29.03.21
"Buchautorin & Trainerin" - Interview with Podcast "Botenstoff" on 08.03.21
"Beruf: Verhaltensbiologin" - Guest in der Show "Sag die Wahrheit" on 01.02.21
2015-2020
Gestresse Stadtkaninchen" - Interview in the Podcast "Deep Dive" on 12.12.20
"Kaninchen in der Großstadt" - Interview with Jagd Podcast on 06.12.20
"Warum Tiere überzeugen wollen" - Interview with rbb zibb on 26.10.20
"Gestresste Großstadtkaninchen" - Science Slam at the Sielmann Stiftung on 06.10.20
"Kein Schweigen im Walde" - Interview at Frankfurter Medienmittwoch on 30.09.20
"Erstmal den Nachbarn besuchen" - Interview with Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten on 17.09.20
"Hasenalarm - die Welt der Langohrenr" - Interview in the TV Dokumentation in NDR on 08.04.20
"Kommunikation in der Natur" - Interview with Deutschlandfunk Nova on 25.03.20
"Rabbits are abandoning the country side" - Article in the Daily Mail and Main Online on 11.03.20
"Europes stressed rabbits" - Article in "The Times" on 11.03.20
"Kein Schweigen im Walde" - Interview with live in rbb zibb on 26.02.20
"Tiere erobern die Städte" - Interview in the Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten on 26.02.20
"Da lernten sich Ziege und Kaninchen gut kennen" - Interview withe the University of Potsdam on 20.02.20
"Das Märchen vom Frankfurter Stadtkaninchen" - FameLab 2. Place Landesfinale in Regensburg on 10.02.20
"Kein Schweigen im Walde" - Interview in ZDF Mittagsmagazin on 06.02.20
"Piepsen, Pupsen, Plappern" - Guest in the Show "1,2 oder 3" on 08.12.19
"Erstmal mit Science Slam anfangen" - Interview with "Wissenschaftskommunikation" on 22.06.19
"Warum Fische lügen" - Science Slam at Bergfunk-Kulturtagen in Königs-Wusterhausen on 12.08.18
"Warum Fische lügen" - Science Slam at Ideen Expo in Kassel on 07.06.18
"Wie kommunizieren Kaninchen?" - Science Slam in Lido Berlin on 12.09.17
"Lieber einsam statt zweisam" - Article in Frankfurter Neue Presse on 17.05.15
"Großstadtkaninchen leben öfter als Singles" - Article in Süddeutschen Zeitung on 06.05.15
"Kaninchen leben gern als Singles" - Article in FAZ on 16.02.15
"Kaninchen allein zu Haus" - Article in Frankfurter Rundschau on 06.02.15
"City rabbits downsize to studio apartments" - Article in IFL Science on 03.02.15
"City rabbits downsize to studio apartments" - Article in BBC Earth on 02.02.15
"City rabbits live in smaller homes" - Interview in Discover Magazin on 30.01.15
2009-2014
"Multifamily residence or studio apartments?" - Poster at "88th Annual Conference of the German Society for Mammalian Biology" in Giessen from 01. till 04.09.14
"Habituation to anthropogenic nuisance of European rabbits" - Talk at the "9th International Conference on Behaviour, Physiology and Genetics of Wildlife" in Berlin from 18. till 21.09.13
"Anpassungsfähigkeit des Europäischen Wildkaninchens" - Talk at the "1. Internationales Symposium der Gesellschaft für Wildtier- und Jagdforschung" in Halberstadt from 11. till 14.04.13
"Let's talk about different things" - Talk at the "105th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society" in Konstanz from 21. till 24.09.12
"Downtown bunnies and their gut feelings" - Talk at the "86th Annual Conference of the German Society for Mammalian Biology" in Frankfurt from 04. till 08.09.12
"Mainhattan goes wild!" - Poster at the "86th Annual Conference of the German Society for Mammalian Biology" in Frankfurt from 04. till 08.09.12
"Should I stay or should I go?" - Poster at the "4th World Lagomorph Conference" in Vienna from 23. till 27.07.12
"Presence of an audience effect" - Poster at the "17th Graduate student meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG)" in Siegen from 02. til 04.05.12, best Poster
"Stress & the city" - Talk at the "17th Graduate student meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG)" in Siegen from 02. till 04.05.12
"Rival presence leads to reversible changes" - Poster at the "VIIth European Congress of Mammology" in Paris from 19. till 23.07.11
"Impact of a chronic calorie restriction" - Poster at the "Brain Lipids Congress Day" in Paris from 28. till 30.03.11
"Audience effects and male mate choice" - Spoken Poster at the "4th European Conference of Poeciliid Biologists" in St. Andrews vom 13.-16.06.10
"Sex in the public" - Poster at the "7th International Conference on Behaviour, Physiology and Genetics of Wildlife (IZW)" in Berlin from 21. till 24.09.09
Scientific Publications and
Illustrations
Fellmeth et al. (2025) Stress and the City: Body Condition, Blood Parameters, Parasite Load, and Stomach Calorimetry of Rural and Urban European Rabbit Populations
Published in Wild, 2(2) 23, Read article
Ziege M. et al. (2020) Living in the city: Population genetics of the European rabbit along a rural-to-urban gradient.
Published in Scientific reports, 10:2448; feated by media (e.g The Times); Read article
Ziege M et al. (2020) Ranging behavior of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in urban and suburban landscapes.
Published in Mammal Research, 65:607-614; not publicly available. The article is available upon request directly from me.
Herde A, Ziege M, Marquard E & Pirhofer-Walzl (2019) Vielfalt in der Uckermark. Forschungsprojekte 2015-2018.
Publisher: Berlin-Brandenburgisches Institut für Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin; not publicly available. The booklet is available upon request directly from me.
Ryll R, Eiden M, Heuser E, Weinhardt M, Ziege M et al. (2018) Hepatitis E virus in feral rabbits along a rural-urban transect in Central Germany.
Published in Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 61:155-159; Read article
Ziege M et al. (2016) Extended diurnal activity patterns of European rabbits along a rural-to-urban gradient.
Published in Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 81:534–541; Read article
Ziege M et al. (2016) Importance of latrine communication in European rabbits shifts along a rural-to-urban gradient.
Published in BMC Ecology, 16:29, featured by media (e.g. Deutschlandradio); Read article
Ziege M et al. (2015) From multifamily residences to studio apartments: shifts in burrow structures of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) along a rural-to-urban gradient.
Published in Journal of Zoology, 295:286–293; featured by media (e.g. BBC Earth); Read article
Ziege M et al. (2013) Anpassungsfähigkeit des Europäischen Wildkaninchens entlang eines rural-urbanen Gradienten.
Published in "Beiträge zur Jagd- und Wildforschung", 38:189–199; not open access. The article is available upon request directly from me.
Ziege M & Bloch R (2013). Den Wandel in ein emissionsfreies Frankfurt gestalten, GRADE Sustain bietet der Climate-KIC Summer School den Rahmen für ein innovatives Brainstorming.
Published in UniReport Goethe-Universität Frankfurt 6:25, Read article
Wronski T, Apio A, Plath M & Ziege M (2013) Sex-difference in the communicatory significance of localized defecation sites in Arabian gazelles (Gazella arabica).
Published in Journal of Ethology, 31:129–140; Read article
Bierbach D, Ziege M, Zimmer C, Riesch R, Schlupp I, Arias- Rodriguez L & Plath M (2012) Male Grijalva mosquitofish (Heterophallus milleri Radda, 1987) increase individual mating preferences in front of an audience.
Published in Aqua, 18:199-208; Read article
Ziege M et al. (2012) Sperm competition risk, audience effects, and male mate choice in a tropical livebearing fish - a methodical comparison.
Published in Current Zoology, 58:84–94; not open access. The article is available upon request directly from me.
Wronski T, Bierbach D, Lerp H, Czupalla L, Ziege M, Cunningham P & Plath M (2012) Rival presence leads to reversible changes in male mate choice of a desert dwelling ungulate.
Publishedt in Behavioral Ecology, 23:551–558; Read article
Bierbach D, Schulte M, Herrmann N, Tobler M, Stadler S, Jung C, Kunkel B, Riesch R, Klaus S, Ziege M, Rimber Indy J, Arias-Rodriguez L & Plath M (2011) Predator-induced changes of female mating preferences: innate and experiential effects.
Published in BMC Evolutionary Ecology, 11:190; Read article
Ziege M et al. (2009) Audience effects in the Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) - prudent male mate choice in response to perceived sperm competition risk?
Published in Frontiers in Zoology, 6:17; Read article
Ziege M et al. (2008) Audience effect alters male mate choice in the Grijalva mosquitofish, Heterophallus milleri (Poeciliidae)
Published in Bulleting of Fish Biology, 10:87–92; Read article
Riesch R, Duwe V, Herrmann N, Padur L, Ramm A, Scharnweber K, Schulte M, Schulz-Mirbach T, Ziege M & Plath M (2008) Extreme personalities: plastic variation along the shybold continuum in extremophile fishes (P. mexicana, P. sulphuraria).
Published in Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 63:1510-1526; Read article
Interview topics
for inspiration
Urban ecology
Which animals and plants live in our cities—and why?
Stress
How do animals and plants cope with stress—and what can we learn from nature?
Communication
Nature is a web of communication. From fungi and trees to bees and flowers, every living being is connected.
Indigenous Knowledge
What is shamanism, and why does it make sense to explore it in today's world?
Spiritual Ecology
Everything is alive with spirit and deeply interconnected. In this sense, shamanism can be understood as a form of spiritual ecology.
Media kit for
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The press kit and accompanying photographs may be used for editorial coverage of my work. If you use the photographs, please credit the photographer, Sebastian Elm of Elm Imagery.
