Idag var det avtackning av Stefan Sydoff. Han går nu i pension efter en lång (mer …)
Lysande instrumentmakare avtackad
New postdoc – Nicoletta Faraone
Hello! I am a new postdoc in the Pheromone group under Olle Anderbrandt and Christer Löfstedt. I am an organic chemist (MSc 2008) with a PhD (2012) in Chemical Ecology.
Before moving to Lund in June 2015, I worked for three years as a postdoc in the Entomology group at Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus, Nova Scotia (Canada). My work was focused on the host-marking pheromone of blueberry fruit fly and the use of essential oils as bio-pesticides in innovative IPM techniques.
With the Pheromone group, I will work on the identification of pheromones and host plant volatiles for seed-eating weevils, and on the use of these compounds to develop environmentally friendly methods for monitoring and control of weevil populations in clover seed fields.
I am very happy for this great opportunity!
Esa-Ville Immonen – new postdoc
Hi! My name is Esa-Ville, but everybody calls me by my nickname, Ekku. I’m a new postdoctoral researcher working in the Lund Vision Group, under Marie Dacke and Basil el Jundi.
Before moving to Lund in May 2015 I was working for a few months as a postdoc in Matti Weckström’s Neuronal Signalling research group at the University of Oulu. This also where I finished my MSc (2009) and PhD (2014) in biophysics. During my studies I was supposed to focus on doing in vitro electrophysiology from cockroach photoreceptors, but, as it often turns out in science, every now and then I deviated from my path, and ended up doing recordings from photoreceptors of various insect species. More specifically, what I actually recorded from them was ionic currents and responses to intensity-modulated light stimuli.
Today, here in Lund, I’ll be working on the integration of environmental cues in the dung beetle brain. In this multidisciplinary project, I get to do brain anatomy, in vivo electrophysiology from the central brain neurons, behavioural experiments, and dung handling. How could I refuse?
New postdoc – Antonio Cordero
I am a new postdoc in the research group of Tobias Uller. Broadly speaking, my work will aim to address important conceptual gaps concerning the role of developmental plasticity in ecology and evolution of reptilian systems. I recently completed my PhD at Iowa State University, USA, where I studied the developmental basis of phenotypic innovation and repeatability in turtles. My work integrated embryology, genetics, phylogenetics, and morphometrics. In Lund, I plan to continue using a multidisciplinary approach to address compelling questions in ecological and evolutionary developmental biology.
Hanna Laakkonen – new research technician
I’m a research technician / lab manager in Experimental Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour in Tobias Uller’s group. My tasks include assistance in all the research related things, administrative tasks, and also the research itself.
I’m from the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Helsinki University), where I’ll defend my PhD this autumn. In my thesis I studied phylogeny of boreal and arctic marine invertebrates and fishes. The focus was on trans-Arctic dispersal between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the timescale of past 5 Million years, and on the phenomena resulting from that (e.g. genetic diversity, cryptic species, introgression following secondary contacts). With my background in phylogeography, I’m especially fascinated by the evolutionary and ecological consequences of dispersal and adaptation to new environments.
New PhD student – Inga Turminaite
Hello! My name is Inga and I’m a new PhD student in the Nose/Vision group. I’m supervised by Prof. Ronald Kröger and, as it sometimes might seem, his dog Kevin. During my years here I will be studying mammalian
thermosensitivity and the function of the rhinarium (naked nose tip). I
will be using a variety of approaches including molecular biological
methods, bioinformatics, physiological and morphological studies. I have
received both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees here in Lund and I am very happy to continue working in this great university.
SACT toad excursion
European fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina) 26 May 2015 16.00-19.30.
Svartskylle (55°32’05.9″N 13°47’02.5″E)
Very windy and non-optimal, but we heard several toads (like half a
cuckoo!), enjoyed the lovely landscape and found a slope covered with early
purple orchids (Orchis mascula) on the way back.
Written and photographed by Honor Prentice
Sommargyllingar bland sommargyllen
I morse vid halv fem-tiden gav sig en tapper skara på 11 personer iväg på SACTs fågelexkursion till (mer …)
Niclas Jonzén (1973–2015)
At the height of his personal and professional life, professor Niclas Jonzén peacefully died a week after his 42nd birthday, on May 9, 2015. The sequelae of the pancreatic cancer diagnosed six years ago could no longer be harnessed. Niclas leaves behind his wife Malin Terjestam and their young sons Tim and Teo.
Niclas obviously lived his last years under considerable strain. Yet, he managed to live a full and rich life with his family, who meant everything to him, and a professional one in science with astonishing creativity and productivity. Niclas lead his research group with unyielding energy and his network of national and international collaborators was ever growing. Also, the Department of Biology in Lund, especially the CAnMove and BECC research environments could reap the benefits of Niclas’ unique blend of skills and across-the-board knowledge of everything biological.
Niclas was born in Kalmar and after having paid both accordion playing and near-elite level table tennis serious visits, he turned his full attention to natural history, field biology and especially bird-watching. The well-known Ottenby Bird Observatory’s proximity to Kalmar made it an irresistible magnet for the young bird-watcher and Niclas devoted more and more time to bird banding and studies of bird migration. Soon it became clear that Niclas aimed at a research career in ornithology and what was more natural than studying biology in Lund, a world-leading center of bird migration research. This did not disbar a stint in Gothenburg where Niclas took marine biology and physiology.
But it was the theories of ecology and evolution and mathematical modeling of biological systems that eventually caught Niclas’ interest. His PhD published thesis defended in 2001 covered and combined two difficult fields – harvesting theory, especially in fisheries, and stochastic processes. The latter became one of Niclas’ main fields of expertise, honed and perfected during his postdoc with professor Hugh Possingham in Brisbane, Australia.
There is nothing like coming home, and Niclas’ lifelong interest in birds could no longer be quenched, also academically. Niclas started combining general theories of life history evolution with the problems birds are facing when timing breeding, moult and migration in a changing environment, such as one warmed by global climate change. In 2009 Niclas was awarded a Research Fellowship from the Swedish Research Council and phenological shifts and life history evolution became Niclas’ salient focus. Hence, his close collaboration to the very end with the bird migration and global change biology groups in Lund and with groups sharing his interests all over the world.
Niclas mastered every aspect of science. He combined his intellectual assets with a profound love for the profession, a contagious enthusiasm and untold creativity and imagination. Students and postdocs shone in his presence and enjoyed his warmhearted mentorship. He never ceased to delight his environment with playful tongue-in-cheek comments on everything from science to modern music.
The department has lost a great colleague and the world a great human being.
Per Lundberg Jörgen Ripa Christer Löfstedt
Niclas Jonzén (1973–2015)
Mitt i livet, endast 42 år gammal har professor Niclas Jonzén gått bort efter sex års tapper kamp mot bukspottkörtelcancer. Inte ens Niclas kunde hindra det oundvikliga och den 9 maj 2015 somnade Niclas stilla in. Han lämnar efter sig hustrun Malin Terjestam och pojkarna Tim och Teo, 10 och 8 år gamla.
De sista åren av Niclas liv var minst sagt utmanande. Med obändiga vilja och häpnadsväckande energi gav han allt han kunde till de unga sönernas start i livet och trots att han var märkt av sin svåra sjukdom fortsatte han att bedriva förstklassig forskning med oförminskad intensitet, kreativitet och entusiasm. In i det sista var Niclas regelbundet på institutionen och arbetade med framför allt kollegorna i CAnMove och BECC. Niclas upphörde heller aldrig med att söka nya forskningskontakter och skaran av sörjande inom och utom landet är stor.
Niclas föddes i Kalmar och blev tidigt intresserad av djur och natur, särskilt det i trakten så rika fågellivet. Niclas far, själv aktiv fågelskådare, var en viktig inspiratör och mentor under Niclas fortsatta väg i livet. Redan i unga år kom Ottenby fågelstation att få stor betydelse för Niclas. Där lärde han sig inte bara om flyttfåglars liv och leverne, men också vikten av systematiskt datainsamlande och rigorösa analyser för att ta reda på hur naturen fungerar. Det blev därför självklart att Niclas sökte sig till biologiutbildning vid Lunds universitet – det var ju där de ledande flyttfågelforskarna stod att finna. Men, kanske en aning oväntat, bytte Niclas forskningsfokus och beslutade sig för att skriva en avhandling i teoretisk ekologi, det ämnesområde han kom att vara troget resten av karriären. Avhandlingen från 2001 var ett litet mästerstycke där Niclas kombinerade ekologisk teori om utnyttjandet av förnyelsebara resurser som havsfiske med den matematiska analysen av slumpprocesser såsom väder och klimat.
Och på den vägen var det. Niclas arbetade under ett år som postdoktor på en världsledande institution i Brisbane i Australien och återvände till Lund med förfinade teoretiska verktyg och en arsenal av analysverktyg för att studera hur variationer i miljön påverkar växt- och djurpopulationers dynamik och evolution. Nu blev ånyo fåglarna det främsta studieobjektet och Niclas undersökte hur flyttfåglar på nordliga breddgrader kan anpassa sin årscykel av häckning, ruggning och flyttning till förändringar i klimatet. År 2009 blev Niclas särskild forskare vid Vetenskapsrådet och snart en världsledande expert på flyttfåglars fenologi och sjösatte många stora internationella projekt, alltid med ena foten stadigt förankrad i de berörda forskningsmiljöerna hemma i Lund.
Niclas kombinerade matematisk och statistisk skicklighet med en naturalhistorisk intuition förvärvad genom många år som fältbiolog, såväl i hemmarkerna som på exotiska platser runt om i världen. Hans entusiasm och glödande intresse för vetenskapen och dess grundvalar var i kombination med hans tekniska och formella kunnande det som bygde hans forskningsframgångar. Även studenter, postdocs och andra medarbetare och kollegor fick energi och inspiration av hans gränslösa nyfikenhet och forskarglädje.
Nu har en oförvägen, omtänksam och i bästa mening egensinnig vän och kollega gått ur tiden. Han är djupt saknad och våra liv har blivit fattigare.
Per Lundberg Jörgen Ripa Christer Löfstedt
S. M. Shahriar Shakil – new PhD student
I am a new PhD student from May 2015 at microbial ecology group working with forest fungi. In my PhD project I will mostly focus on understanding how boreal forest fungi soil organic matter. To find out the key mechanisms I will apply metabolomics and proteiomics by growing fungi in axenic model system.
Michael Olsson – new IT Technician
Hello!
My name is Michael and I recently joined the institution after a few years at
the institution of Geology. I’m an IT technician and I will help make sure our IT environment is up to date and in good shape. My room is in the hallway for aquatic ecology and I’m here three days a week. I also work at the faculties of Humanities and Theology. Except for being a ”geek” I also enjoy running, architecture and design too name just a few things. I’m a mac guy so if you need help with your mac, you can always turn to me!
See you!
//Michael
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