Biologiska institutionen | Lunds universitet
The Biology Doctoral Student Council (BDR) had a meeting on 12 September. Among other things, they discussed conference reflections, course credits, supervision of bachelor and master students, the autumn PhD student event, and updates to the Biology PhD Student Guide. You can find more information in the minutes from the meeting (new tab; pdf; 199 kB).
Grundutbildningsnämnden har möte klockan 13.15 den 26 september i Stora konferensrummet i Ekologihuset. Följande står på dagordningen:
I fredags var det en svamputflykt till Tjörnarp. Dimitri Floudas, Edith Hammer och Kristin Aleklett Kadish ledde utflykten. Runt 25 deltagare hittade ett 60-tal olika svamparter, bland annat den rödlistade koralltaggsvampen (Hericium coralloides), jätteticka (Meripilus giganteus) och karl johansvamp (Boletus edulis).
I fredags var det boksläpp i fikarummet i Biologihus A. Då släpptes böckerna Acta Botanica Hungarica 67 (1–3) (AKJournals webbplats) och The Origin and Evolution of the Plant World. Den förra är en jubileumsskrift tillägnad Ingvar Kärnefeldt och en av redaktörerna är Arne Thell. Den senare boken är en nyutgåva på engelska av bland andra Ingvar Kärnefeldt och Lars Olof Björn. De båda var givetvis med på boksläppet, liksom flera andra författare och redaktörer.
Tyvärr fick vi inte se The Origin and Evolution of the Plant World då förlaget hade missat titelsidan då de tryckte upp hela utgåvan. Då var det bara för dem att göra om och göra rätt.
Arne Thell visade dock upp den lite äldre svenska utgåvan i brist på den nya engelska boken. Och det gick lika bra det.
Text och foto: Inger Ekström
Det var nästan på dagen femtio år sedan Olle Anderbrant klev in genom dörrarna på Kemicentrum som student. I går klev han ut som pensionär. Olle kommer dock att fortsätta sin forskning som emeritus.
Det var många som kommit till foajén i Ekologihuset för att tacka Olle för hans arbete på institutionen. Först ut bland talarna var Eric Warrant, chef för avdelningen Sinnesbiologi dit Olle hör.
Eric tyckte det kändes lite konstigt att nu vara chef för Olle då Olle tidigare var Erics chef. Det har dock gett Eric full förståelse för hur väl Olle skötte chefssysslorna. Men den största lärdomen Eric fått från Olle är hur en suger ut lukt ur mörka hål. En lätt uppgift för någon som jobbar i Feromongruppen!
Näst i tur bland talarna var Fredric Carlsson som å institutionens vägnar tackade Olle för alla hans insatser. Olle har till exempel varit både biträdande prefekt och huvudstudierektor för grundutbildningen i ekologi.
Siste talare var Christer Löfstedt som känt Olle sedan 1971 då de båda var aktiva inom Fältbiologerna och aktivister. De flyttade ner till Lund tillsammans och har delat många saker, inklusive en nedlegad säng.
Olle har även varit min högsta chef. Tack för den tiden Olle! Jag hoppas du får en härlig ledighet och en rolig emeritustid.
Text och foto: Inger Ekström
Hi there! I’m Yohan, a new postdoc working with Cecilia Nilsson. In my project, I’m exploring the vertical space use of nocturnal migratory birds across Europe, and especially the drivers of low-altitude flight to ultimately predict timing and locations of conflicts between birds and human infrastructure (for example, wind energy facilities and airports). To achieve this, I’ll use information on bird altitude, density, speed, and direction of movement collected every 15 minutes by the European weather radar network. The ultimate aim of this project is to provide a tool that can predict where migration peaks at low altitudes will occur a few days in advance, enabling action to be taken to reduce bird fatalities due to collisions.
I’m originally from Bordeaux, France (famous for its wine), where I did my Bachelor’s in Biology of Organisms and Ecosystems. I then moved to Dijon, France (famous for its mustard), for my Master’s in Behavioural Ecology and Wildlife Management. I ended up in Montpellier, France (famous for its… faculty of medicine – the oldest in the world still in operation) for my PhD and first postdoc, where I mainly investigated how sociality helps griffon vultures to find unpredictable resources (that is, thermal updrafts to move and carcasses to feed). I also worked on questions to reduce conflicts between social raptors space use (griffon vultures and lesser kestrels) and wind energy facilities.
Outside of work, you’ll probably find me outdoors—biking, hiking, discovering new places, or even potentially flying (all while keeping an eye out for birds). I’m looking forward to meeting many of you and hearing your recommendations for places in Sweden that should not be missed!
Hello!
I’m Aarushi, a new PhD student co-supervised by Øystein Opedal and Magne Friberg. I’ll be working with Viscaria vulgaris, a type of wildflower that is visited by several species of insect pollinators. Over the next few years, I hope to understand whether there is adaptation between the flowering populations and the local pollinator communities. This will involve comparing floral and insect trait measurements, while also collecting data about how often different pollinators visit, and how efficient they are at depositing pollen. Eventually, we will try to estimate the contribution of each pollinator taxa to the net selection gradient on the plant population, by using different measures of plant fitness.
I also did my Master’s in Lund, and a master’s project with Magne Friberg. I worked with Italian Arabis alpina populations which differed in floral scent. I tried to estimate whether the local pollinators had a preference for the local scent compared to a foreign scent, and also tried to see if they were morphologically adapted to the flowering population. We found some evidence for this, but it was most exciting to conduct unique ‘scape-translocation’ experiments to test these hypotheses. Of course, being in Italy was an added bonus! I enjoyed every part of my project so much that I decided to continue working on similar themes for my PhD. I am especially excited to be back on the third floor, around familiar faces again!
Lately, I’ve been interested in science communication, and using art and storytelling to convey scientific research. I hope to find ways to practice this over the next few years. I also like to do crafts (especially making jewellery), cook and read fiction in my free time. And I’ve been getting into board games over the past year, so if you know any groups who play regularly, please let me know! I hope I’ll get to know more of you over the next few years. I’m almost always happy to chat 🙂
Hej!
I am Pedro Juárez (PJ), a Costa Rican botanist and evolutionary biologist, and currently a postdoctoral researcher in the SpACE research group at Lund University. I work with Dr. Øystein H. Opedal on understanding how variation in pollination ecology mediates population divergence in Neotropical vines, and with Dr. Magne Friberg on the interplay between coevolution and reproductive isolation in polyploid plant speciation.
I received my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where I investigated the microevolution of pollination shifts from bee to hummingbird pollination in Neotropical spiral gingers (Costus). My dissertation combined large-scale field experiments across elevational gradients, detailed analyses of floral traits, and pollinator behaviour to understand how local adaptation to different pollinators can generate reproductive barriers and promote speciation.
Broadly, my research investigates the processes of plant diversification, with a focus on how the ecology and geography of plant–pollinator interactions drive floral adaptation and reproductive isolation. My work integrates observational, experimental, and modelling approaches. In addition, I am actively engaged in botanical exploration and have described several new endemic plant species from South Central America. I have also collaborated on international projects spanning forest ecology, bird ecology, endophytes, and the behavioural ecology of euglossine bees.
Pura vida,
PJ
Hey everyone!
I am Evieann Cardoza, and I am a postdoc at Dr. Claes von Wachenfeldt’s laboratory. My research focuses mostly on understanding the role of a truncated hemoglobin in Bacillus subtilis, as well as investigating other elements of biofilm formation.
I moved to Lund from India, where I received my PhD in Biological Sciences from NMIMS University (Deemed-to-be). During my PhD, I investigated the function of nine cold shock proteins (Csps) in Escherichia coli. During my research, I discovered that Csps are more than just cold adaptation proteins; they are stress proteins that facilitate protection and adaptation to a wide range of stressors. My research resulted in the identification of two previously unknown E. coli Csps and a knowledge of their expression in the bacterium’s stress response.
I’ve only been in Sweden for a little over three months, and I’m still getting used to the quiet and calm life it has to offer. That’s one of the reasons why music is so important in my life. I enjoy listening to Korean, English, Hindi, and Spanish songs all day long! I am fascinated by microorganisms, particularly their stress proteins and how a single protein may perform multiple jobs in the cell. I enjoy working and consider myself a ’workaholic!’. When I’m not working, you may find me meditating, watching romantic comedies, or cooking in the kitchen! I enjoy experimenting with food and trying new recipes.
So, if you want to talk about movies, music or food, feel free to drop by my office (Biology House A, room 232) or email me!
Hi everyone! My name is Lila Maladesky and I am doing my PhD on sex determination of Wikstroemia sp., a genus of flowering plants from Hawai’i. I work with Colin Olito and Bengt Hansson. In my project, I am investigating the evolution of dioecy (separate sexes) in this genus. In particular, I want to understand the genetic basis of the trait. For this, I’m trying to find the sex chromosomes in several species and compare them.
I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I did my bachelor’s in Biology at the University of Buenos Aires. There, I worked for some time on cytogenetics of new-world primates. Since then, I have been passionate about chromosomes, and specially, sex chromosomes, because of the crazy systems that these monkeys have. After that, I moved to Europe to do my master’s in the Erasmus Mundus Master Program in Evolutionary Biology (MEME). During this time, I had the chance to live both in Uppsala, Sweden, and in Montpellier, France. During my master’s, I got to work in different projects, but all of them, you guessed it… connected to sex chromosomes. In this case, in arthropods. This is also when I started diving into genomics. Now, I made the brave decision of switching systems to plants, which present an amazing opportunity to keep working on a topic that I love, but from a new and fresh perspective.
Other than biology, I love history, and I am always eager to read books or watch movies about my favorite topics. I also enjoy reading fiction, dancing, hiking and running. But mostly, I would say, I love travelling. I’ve been lucky enough to travel quite a lot already, but I hope to do more of that, and to keep exploring Sweden over the next few years.
Hi everyone,
My name is Xingguo Han, and I’m excited to join the Functional Ecology group as a postdoc with Johannes Rousk. My research focuses on microbial ecology — in particular, how microbes respond and adapt to environmental change, and what this means for biogeochemistry and climate feedbacks.
I’m originally from China, where I studied Environmental Engineering for my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. I then moved to ETH Zurich for my PhD in Environmental Microbiology, where I investigated how eutrophication affects microbial communities and carbon cycling in lake sediments. After that, I worked as a postdoc at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), studying soil microbial communities across climatic gradients in Europe and South Africa within the Biodiversa+ project. That work explored how microbial diversity and metabolism shape soil carbon cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes under warming and drought.
At Lund, I look forward to contributing my expertise in soil biodiversity and microbial processes to projects on ecosystem functioning under global change — such as warming, drought, and extreme events — through both field and lab experiments.
Outside of research, I enjoy cooking (I make pretty good dumplings), as well as hiking, playing tennis, and doing some beginner-level bouldering.
I fredags gick Håkan Wallander i pension och blev avtackad av nuvarande och tidigare kollegor vid institutionen.
Ett flertal tidigare doktorander höll tal till Håkan. I talen framgick det att han är en stor livsnjutare som visat att det är möjligt att ha ett liv även utanför forskningen.
Håkan har varit en inspiration för sina kollegor. Han tycker det är väldigt roligt med forskning, vilket smittar av sig på alla i hans omgivning.
Håkan är även en idéspruta, på gott och ont. Ibland kan det bli lite svårt att realisera de många goda idéerna.
Även om Håkan inte alltid varit den mest moderiktigt klädda, så har han alltid varit den mest välklädda för situationen ute i fält.
Det var mycket minnen i de olika talen, både från utlandsresor till hur ”star struck” vissa blir när en person berättar att de jobbar med DEN Håkan Wallander.
Håkan kommer dock inte att sluta forska, han fortsätter som emeritus. Presenterna, en väderstation och en ryggsäck/cykelväska kommer väl till pass vid resorna till arbetet.
Tack för din tid här hos oss på institutionen.
Text och foto: Inger Ekström
Kommentarer