About employee

izv. prof. dr. sc. Sara Essert

Title: Associate Professor
Public phone number:+385(0)1 4895 567
E-mail: E-mail
Department: Division of Botany
Graduation year:2002
PhD graduation year:2013
Employed in this institution since:2003

Teaching

graduate

integrated undergraduate and graduate

Biography

I was born on August 1, 1979, in Zagreb, where I completed my elementary and secondary education. In 1997, I enrolled in the biology-ecology program at the Faculty of Science, Department of Biology. I graduated in October 2002 with a thesis titled "The Flora of Snježnik." During my final year, I completed additional methodological and didactic courses, qualifying me to teach biology in primary and secondary schools. In February 2003, I started working at the Department of Botany as a research assistant under Professor Hršak on the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education project titled "Ecological Relationships of Vegetation and Habitats in Croatia." I earned my Ph.D. in 2013 with a dissertation titled "Charred Plant Remains from the Late Bronze Age Site Kalnik-Igrišče."

My research focuses on the following fields: archaeobotany, material sciences/subfossil wood, and botany (floristics, taxonomy, and nature conservation). To date, I have published 20 scientific papers indexed in the Scopus database. I have participated in 18 scientific conferences and reviewed seven scientific papers. My professional development includes visits lasting 1-2 weeks to the following international institutions:

  • Institute of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Basel (Switzerland) – Plant Macrofossil Analysis Course (2010)
  • Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) – Erasmus+ scholarship, Wood Anatomy Course (2015)
  • George Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for Bioarchaeology, Cambridge University (UK) – Introduction to Charcoal Identification (2016)

From 2016 to 2019, I collaborated on the EU H2020 project Smart Integration of Genetics with Sciences of the Past in Croatia: Minding and Mending the Gap (MendTheGap). In 2020, I participated in the Croatian Science Foundation project IP-CORONA-2020-12-3798. As an external archaeobotany collaborator, I have contributed to research at various sites (e.g., Osijek Ciglana, Banski dvori, Barbir, and others).

Since 2003, I have been actively involved in teaching (lectures, practicals, seminars, and fieldwork) in over 10 courses at the Department of Biology. Currently, I am a lecturer or co-lecturer for six courses, consistently receiving excellent evaluations in student surveys. I have (co-)mentored 10 master's theses and three undergraduate theses, as well as directly supervised one undergraduate and four master's theses.

My professional and outreach activities include organizing workshops for children as part of various events/projects (e.g., Botanic Garden Days, Biology Night, Archaeological Museum programs, libraries, schools), recording segments for the educational TV program "Školski sat" (HRT), coordinating the University Fair for several years, and organizing workshops for the professional development of biology teachers.

Since 2020, I have served as Assistant Head for Teaching. I am a member of the Croatian Botanical Society and the Eastern Alpine and Dinaric Society for Vegetation Ecology. I am proficient in English and German.

I am the mother of two teenage sons. In my free time, I engage in volunteering and dog training.

Published papers recorded in the Croatian Scientific Bibliography Database

Show publications in CRORIS

Show CROSBI records