Function and Responsibilities:

PhD student in section 3.5: Interface Geochemistry

Research Interests:

The research during my PhD will focus on polar microbiology on snowfields down to glacier fore fields in the Arctic. Part of my research here focuses on different snow algae strains and their physiology under high light conditions. Due to these extreme environmental conditions snow algae developed coping mechanisms like the production of pigments protection them from high solar radiation. In summer big snow algae blooms darken snow and ice fields, changing the albedo and accelerating the ablation of snow and ice fields. Understanding the physiology of algae causing these algal blooms better is important due to their significant impact on melting ice and snow bodies and therefore climate change.

During summer snow algae are washed into the glacier fore field by ablation water, where they act as a nutrient source for other microorganisms like fungi. When glaciers retreat the environment will change - as will the ecosystem. In the second part of my PhD I will look at fungal community shifts and colonization in glacier fore fields. I want to investigate if the colonization of „barren“ soil is influenced by snow algae acting as a nutrient source. Fungal colonization is an important step for soil formation.

My interest is to find out how these microorganisms are adapted to these specialized environments and how they influence each other. Starting with the physiology of snow algae influenced by solar radiation and further how these algae could act as a nutrient source impacting fungal communities in soil.

Career:

Internship and following Master’s thesis at the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam
Section 3.5 Interface Geochemistry
September 2023 – August 2024

Internship at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Future Lab
Social Metabolism and Impacts
August – December 2021

Bachelor's thesis and following student research assistant in the Institute of Physiology,
AG Kübler, Charité Berlin, Germany
November 2018 - November 2019

Education:

M.Sc. Environmental Science, University of Greifswald, Germany
Thesis :Physiological Comparison of Four Cryogenic Arctic Snow Algae Strains

B.Sc. Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany