Erik Selander

Associate professor

PI for the Signals in the sea project Associate Professor at the department of Marine Sciences. Focus on Marine chemical ecology with special emphasis on the marine pelagic.

erik.selander@gu.se

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Kristie Rigby

PhD Student- Finished

I am a PhD student in the Signals in the Sea project. My project aims to use behavioural, ecological and biochemical perspectives to understand the role of copepodamides in nature to better understand the links between predator and prey. My PhD is completed and im currently looking for post docs related to my expertise.

kristie.rigby@gu.se

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Milad Pourdanandeh

PhD Student

My primary focus will be to expand our current understanding of defensive traits in phytoplankton induced by chemical cues from copepods. I also hope to study potential effects of these copepodamides on other zooplankton, perform a systematic review and to apply novel machine learning methods to study planktonic predator-prey interactions.

milad.pourdanandeh@gu.se

Jenny Lindström

Researcher

I am interested in ecological and physiological aspects of plankton bioluminescence. I study the importance of light as a predator defence in the ecosystem of the pelagial, and cellular mechanisms involved in triggering flashes of light in dinoflagellates.

jenny.lindstrom@gu.se

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Andrew Prevett

Research Assistant

Previously focused on the copepodamide induced up regulation of dinoflagellate bioluminescence. The aim was to determine its impact on copepod grazing behaviour and the potential resulting changes in a plankton community. Currently engaged with the sealice project, testing bait and trap design both in the lab and in the field.

Sina Arnoldt

Erasmus student from Jena doing an internship exploring the presence of copepodamides in freshwater copepods.

Wiebke Grebner

Postdoc

Predator-prey interactions between zooplankton and phytoplankton are crucial for the ecological functioning of the pelagic ecosystem and these interactions are regulated by chemical signals. The marine microalgae Skeletonema marinoi shows a phenotypical response to a recently identified group of signalling molecules named copepodamides. My work focuses on the identification of possible receptor proteins involved in sensing these compounds in Skeletonema. Further I am interested in the transcriptomic and metabolomic changes of Skeletonema marinoi caused by copepodamides.

wiebke.grebner@gu.se

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Aubrey Trapp

Master student

My master project focused on the bioaccumulation of algal toxins and copepodamides in mussels. Mussels accumulate algal toxins during filter feeding, which causes shellfish poisoning and heavy losses for aquaculture. Recent work suggests that mussels may also accumulate copepodamides. Since copepodamides induce algal toxins, the detection of high levels of copepodamides in mussels could indicate a coming toxic algal bloom.

Malin Frisell

Master student

My master project investigated the connection between bioluminescence and toxicity in small, dim dinoflagellates. It is known that both these mechanisms are used as protection against predators and studies have suggested that bioluminescence might be an aposematic signal for toxicity. Learning about this will further increase our knowledge about the complex interactions between prey and predator. It will also give a deeper understanding about adaptions that can occur within populations in response to their surroundings.

Henrik Möller

Master student

In my master project I looked at the correlation between diel vertical migration of copepods and concentrations of copepodamides. With this knowledge it might be possible to estimate the budget for copepodamides in larger areas such as the Skagerrak region or the North sea. 

Hope Stevenson

Master student

My master thesis aimed to characterise the bioluminescent response of Alexandrium catenella to the presence of copepodamides, through preforming dose response experiments and looking at the kinetics of the response, the speed of bioluminescent initiation and the length of time required to return to control levels if copepodamide exposure is discontinued. The results of the study will add to the knowledge of bioluminescent defence response of dinoflagellate species and how it plays a role in prey - predator interactions.

Maja Karlsson

Master student

Maja did her Masters on the effect of copepodamides on microzooplankton grazing at Kristineberg Marine Research Station

Maria Vigo Fernandez

Bachelor student

Maria did her Bachelor project on the effect of wrasse fishery on the algal belt community and is now doing a PhD in Barcelona

Paul Kraly

Master student

Paul did his Master thesis on the effects of wrasse fishery on the algal belt community and is now back in Canada

Carina Berglund

Post doc

Carina did a PD on copepodamides and was key in the process of establishing several new structures. Now working in Swerea IVF