European eel, Anguilla anguilla
On Tuesday 18 June, Niclas Carlsson, lab/field technician and master student at Karlstad University, will give a seminar titled: “Low-sloping racks and the importance of bar spacing for eel passage”. The seminar starts at 13:15 in room 5F416 at Karlstad University. Everyone who wants to are welcome to attend the seminar.
Jacqueline Hoppenreijs recently joined the NRRV research group. Here she writes about her previous work and what she intends to do as a PhD student at Karlstad University:
Hej! I’m Jacqueline Hoppenreijs and I recently started my PhD in the NRRV group at Karlstad University. During my MSc, which I did at the Department of Environmental Science at Radboud University in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and the Department of Ecology at SLU Uppsala, I worked on different species groups: plants, birds and insects and wrote two theses. The first one, with fellow student Bas van Lith, explored possibilities for bird population restoration on the Indonesian island of Java, using historical sources on bird population development and land use change over the course of a century. During the second one, I studied the importance of different man-made habitat types for pollinators in Sweden, over the course of a season.
Bas and I birdwatching in Rancaekek, by Fachmi Azhar Aji
Despite studying quite different time frames and taxa, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and conservation have been recurring themes. Coming from the overpopulated Netherlands, I find myself very interested in the interface of human society and nature, and more specifically nature restoration, conservation efforts and their ethical aspects.
As a junior researcher at the Department of Animal Ecology & Physiology at Radboud University, I dove a bit deeper in the influence that human actions can have on the natural world. I worked in Rob Leuven’s group to identify the potential risks of invasive (alien) species in horticulture, biological control and food forestry.
As from April 2019, I’m working with Lutz Eckstein and Lovisa Lind. We’re focusing on both fundamental and applied aspects of plant ecology and I’m looking forward to unravel the mechanisms that drive plant dispersal and community composition in boreal riparian zones. Next to that, I’m excited to be part of an active education environment and the passionate group of researchers that forms the NRRV, and can’t wait to meet the rest of Karlstad’s community!
Vegetation sampling on Omey Island, by Joop Schaminée
Seke Chainda
Global Swede is an initiative by the Swedish government to promote long-term relations with international students in Sweden, with the aim to create cross-border networks and future collaborations.
Seke Chainda, Master student in Biology at Karlstad University, was awarded as Global Swede 2019 together with 25 other international students studying in Sweden. The students have distinguished themselves in their areas of study and in terms of both innovation and entrepreneurship. They have therefore been deemed good representatives for both Sweden and their home countries. Seke Chainda is from Senanga, a town in western Zambia. On 21 May, Seke visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Utrikesdepartementet) in Stockholm to participate in the Global Swede ceremony. Seke received his diploma from Ann Linde, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade.
Thomas Blom (Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Karlstad University), Seke Chainda and Stina Eriksson (Vice Head of the Biology Department at Karlstad University) at the Global Swede Ceremony
Seke is enrolled in the Master programme in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Karlstad University. In his master’s thesis, he examined the function of the adipose fin for the swimming performance and drift-feeding capability of juvenile salmonids, which usually is removed from juvenile fish reared at hatcheries for stocking purposes.
Seke Chainda, Erik Petersson (Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) and Elio Bottagisio (master student) doing lab work at Karlstad University
Seke Chainda together with other master students conducting field work
Seke Chainda tagging a fish
On 28 May (tomorrow), Martin Österling, Associate Professor at Karlstad University, will give a seminar titled:
“The genetic structure of mussels with complex life cycles and its relation to host fish migratory trait and density.”
The seminar starts at 13:15 in room 5F416 at Karlstad University. Everyone who wants to are welcome to attend the seminar.
Anna Hagelin and the opponent Professor Ian Fleming, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, at Anna’s PhD defense
Anna Hagelin successfully defended her PhD thesis with the title “Conservation of landlocked Atlantic salmon in a regulated river: Behaviour of migratory spawners and juveniles” 12 April this year.
Anna also presented her research at “forskningspodden” (the research podcast), which is a popular science podcast at Karlstad University. Here you can listen to Anna talk about her research on salmon conservation in river Klarälven (in Swedish).
European eel, Anguilla anguilla. Photo: Jörgen Wiklund
Karlstad University has an opening for a PhD position in aquatic conservation biology. The project will focus on “Resolving production bottlenecks for the European eel”. Conserving biodiversity is one of the major challenges in applied aquatic ecology. The European eel functions as a flagship species in marine and freshwater conservation, and its population collapse is of major concern for ecologists, fishers and managers.
The aim of the PhD project is to identify:
(i) relationships between yellow eel habitat use, growth, behavior and survival.
(ii) effects of habitat characteristics and the surrounding landscape on eel large-scale movements within freshwater systems.
(iii) functioning downstream passage solutions at hydropower plants for a wide range of silver eel phenotypes.
The position is full-time for four years. Doctoral students may also be assigned departmental duties, such as teaching, which will extend the period of employment accordingly.
Read more and apply for the position here.
Last day to apply is 5 June 2019.
Tomorrow Tuesday 14 May, Lina Polvi Sjöberg, Assistant Professor at Umeå University, will give a seminar at Karlstad University:
“What controls the physical habitat template and disturbance regime of streams? — understanding sediment transport and channel form of semi-alluvial streams in northern Sweden”
The seminar starts at 13:15 in room 5F416.
Everyone is welcome to attend the seminar.
On Monday and Tuesday 6 – 7 May, Dr. Helen Kopnina from The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, will visit Karlstad University. During her visit, Helen will give two talks:
Monday 6 May, 13:30 in room 1D350
Sustainable development goals – A critical evaluation in theory and educational practice
Tuesday 7 May, 13:15 in room 5F416
Ethical debates in biological conservation
Everyone that wants to are welcome to attend the seminars.
För ungefär en månad sedan uppmärksammade vi en forskningsartikel som handlade om hur grågåsen genom sin spillning är viktig för växters spridning på skärgårdsöar i Östersjön (läs inlägget här). Lutz Eckstein, Professor i NRRV, är medförfattare på artikeln.
Nu har forskningen fått stort mediegenomslag, och uppmärksammats av bland annat Sveriges Radio (lyssna på ett inslag där Lutz berättar om studien), Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Ny Teknik samt en mängd lokaltidningar (Smålandsposten, Kristianstadsbladet, Bohuslänningen, Enköpingsposten, Borås tidning, Uppsala nya tidning, Katrineholms-Kuriren m.fl.).
Today, Tuesday 23 April, Erik Petersson (Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) will give a seminar titled “Effect of cormorant predation on fish populations – a meta-analysis”. The seminar will be held at 13:15 in room 5D306 at Karlstad University. Everyone that wants to are welcome to attend the seminar.
Google-translate … is a research group associated to the subject of Biology and the Department of Environmental and Life Sciences at Karlstad University, Sweden. The group conducts both basic and applied research on human impact on river ecosystems, and how this impact can be minimized.
NRRV is the Swedish abbreviation for naturresurs rinnande vatten, in English the group is called the River Ecology and Management research group (RivEM).
