Behavioural ecologist & ecotoxicologist studying aquatic biota
UNDERSTANDING AND PRESERVING AQUATIC LIFE FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE
About me
I am a biologist with a broad interest in how the environment affects the behaviour and ecology of wildlife. I also like seeking creative and practical solutions to reduce our impact on the environment.
I am working as a postdoctoral researcher in the research groups of Prof. Tomas Brodin and Asst. Prof. Michael Bertram (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) in Umeå, Sweden. I am also a guest researcher at the Department of Zoology at Stockholm University (Sweden) hosted by Prof. Niclas Kolm, and at the TRANSfarm pilot plant of KU Leuven (Belgium).
In addition to these positions, I am active as an ecotoxicologist in the EU-funded consortium “One Health drugs against parasitic vector borne diseases in Europe and beyond” (COST Action CA21111) which is aimed at developing new drugs for vector-transmitted diseases with minimal impact on the environment. Within this COST Action, I lead Horizontal Group 6 on ecotoxicology, and represent Sweden as member of the Management Committee.
I am also leading the Zoology section of the Editorial Preprint team of Proceedings B, the Royal Society’s flagship journal for biological sciences.
Background
I did my PhD research at KU Leuven (Belgium, 2016-’19) in the research group of Prof. Luc Brendonck, co-supervised by Dr. Tom Pinceel. For this, I generally focused on studying how natural stressors and chemical pollution impact fish and zooplankton (including large branchiopods). From a more applied point of view, one major objective of my PhD research was to establish turquoise killifish as a novel model organism for behavioural eco(toxico)logy research. I am still closely connected and involved in the follow-up research that builds upon this work.
After my PhD, I worked as a researcher at Radius research center (Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium) where I studied the cultivation and use of microalgae on lab and pilot scale from a circular economy viewpoint. Before moving to Sweden, I also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the TRANSfarm pilot plant of KU Leuven (Belgium) where I led the development of a new, state-of-the-art research facility for aquacultural research. My research specifically focused on the toxicity and use of phytochemicals using Artemia-based assays, and on fish husbandry from an animal welfare viewpoint. I am still associated as a guest researcher to continue these activities.
Domains of expertise:
Aquatic ecology, Behavioural ecology and ethology, Ecotoxicology, Stress ecology, Aquaculture
Selected networks
