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Already some weeks ago, on December 10th, we could celebrate another PhD defence. Anaïs Aubert successfully defended her thesis titled: "Stoichiometry of lipid synthesizing calanoid copepods in Arctic and sub-Arctic marine regions" at AMB/UiT. The thesis focuses on the effects of elemental requirements of Arctic copepods by investigating changes in C:N:P ratios in three papers, two published and one in review. Anaïs' supervisors were Paul Wassmann (UiT) and Tobias Tamelander (UiT). We wish Anaïs all the best for her future carreer!

List of publications in the thesis:

1. CNP stoichiometry of a lipid-synthesising calanoid copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, from winter to spring bloom in a sub-Arctic sound. Journal of Marine Systems 2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2012.09.004
2. Stoichiometric approach to elemental limitation of pelagic producers and grazers during the Arctic summers. In revision in Marine Ecology Progress Series.
3. Export stoichiometry and contribution of copepod feacal pellets to vertical flux of particulate carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Marine Ecolgoy Progress Series 2012. DOI: 10.3354/meps09733

Photo: Rudi Cayers

COOPENOR is a newly financed project under the NORRUSS programme (NRC) within the ARCTOS research network that will start in January 2013 and last for 3 years. The project “COmbined effects Of Petroleum and the Environment in bivalves from the NOrwegian-Russian Arctic” will be led on the Norwegian side by Dr Jasmine Nahrgang at the University of Tromsø and by Dr Igor Bakhmet from the Institute of Biology of the Karelian research Centre on the Russian side. COOPENOR is a collaborative effort between four Norwegian, five Russian, one French and one USA partner institutions will include two PhD students. The overall objective of the project is to provide new knowledge that will enhance the implementation of comparable tools and protocols for marine monitoring within the Norwegian and Russian sectors of the Arctic by using two well-known benthic indicator species (blue mussel and Icelandic scallop).

More info http://site.uit.no/polarisation/2012/12/09/a-new-project-within-the-arctos-network/

On Decembert 3rd, ARCTOS PhD student Hildur Petursdottir defended her thesis with the title "Trophic relationships and the role of Calanus in the oceanic ecosystems south and north of Iceland" at AMB/UiT. The thesis cotains five published papers (see list below). Hildur's supervisors have been Marit Reigstad (UiT), Stig Falk-Petersen (UiT/AMB) and Astthor Gislason (Marine Research Institute Reykjavik). Hildur has returned to her home institute on Iceland. We say congratulations for the successful PhD defence and hope to see you again here soon!

List of publications included in the thesis:

1. Trophic interactions of the pelagic ecosystem over the Reykjanes Ridge as evaluated by fatty acid and stable isotope analyses. Deep Sea Research Part II 2008. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.09.003
2. Lipid classes and fatty acid compositions of muscle, liver and skull oil in deep-sea redfish Sebastes mentella over the Reykjanes Ridge. Journal of Fish Biology 2008. DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.02100.x
3. Trophic interactions of meso- and macrozooplankton and fish in the Iceland Sea as evaluated by fatty acid and stable isotope analysis. ICES Journal of marine science 2012. DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fss125
4. Ecosystem structure in the Iceland Sea and recent changes to the capelin (Mallotus villosus) population. ICES Journal of marine science 2012. DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fss071
5. Inter-annual variability in abundance and community structure of zooplankton south and north of Iceland in relation to environmental conditions in spring 1990–2007. Journal of Plankton Research 2009. DOI: 10.1093/plankt/fbp007

Offentlige foredrag i Naturvidenskab is the title of a sequence of public talks at the University of Aarhus to which the ARCTOS member Paul Wassmann was invited to.  In concert with our colleague Ronnie Glud two talks were presented regarding the dramatic changes in the Arctic.  Paul took a birds eyes view while Ronnie presented the results of a major study of an east Greenland fjord, Young Sound.  A public talk is generally not a major issue, but the talks at the University of Aarhus are.  They are surprisingly popular.  More than 3000 people listened to the talks regarding the Arctic Ocean.  Tickets for the talks disappear in days.  The demands are so strong that the biggest lecture hall is not sufficient and 4 additional halls are used.  The talks are presented there with a video link.  The spread in age is also surprising, from pupils to retired people.  Many come directly from their work and the cantina is open to those, offering a high-qulity buffet. In the break coffee, wine, beer and snacks are offered and even popular books are on sale.  During the talks there is a complete silence in the audience.  After the lectures a natural science museum opens for the visitors and here they can meet in person the speakers.

Behind this arrangement stand Peter Bondo Christensen and Jens Dybkjær Holbeck, both scientists that have developed a strong interest for outreach.  The speakers are guided in detail under the preparation of their talks.  All slides are scrutinized prior of a trial lecture where everything associated with a talk (quality of wording, the manner you talk, the way to stand, the way you approach the audience through examples etc.) is  commented, criticized and suggestions made.  And it does not end there.  After each lecture new suggestions pop up and each time the talks is improved.  One has the impression that one delivers a performance, rather then a talk.

To be invited to speak under such circumstances was a tremendous experience.  In order to study the concept closer and to declare an interest in joint research in the Arctic, dean Edel Elvevoll of UiT as well as the head of the research department, Linda Hamrin Nesby, visited the University of Aarhus.  The experience has provided inspiration for outreach could be carried at UiT.

The POLARISATION team has been working hard these last couple of months to plan and prepare the first round of experimental work: in total 3 experiments over a period of 4 months will be carried out both at the marin Lab in Ny-Ålesund and at the Biological station Kårvika of the University of Tromsø. The team of the newly employed PhD student and post doc and the PI will try to decipher the way oil contaminants enter polar cod, a small Arctic fish, used as a model species, through the diet and affect crucial lipid related processes. In a warming Arctic, with anthropogenic activities moving further north and the risk of oil spills constantly increasing, it is both important and exiting to find out how oil compounds change major lipid related processes such as storage of energy, growth, and reproduction.

Ireen Vieweg (PhD student) is preparing for the first experiment in Ny-Ålesund and will soon be assisted by Dr Jordan Nechev (Post doc) in a long and challenging experiment to study the molecular and cellular effects of oil contaminated food. About 500 polar cod will indeed be taken care of over a 3 months period and fed individually.  On RV Helmer Hanssen, Dr J. Nahrgang (PI) is presently sampling as many fish as possible and will return to Ny-Ålesund in less than a week. A main challenge will also be to return a stock of live fish to the Biological station of the University of Tromsø (Kårvika) to carry out a new set of experiments focusing on uptake and tissue distribution of oil contaminants and the formation of toxic metabolites as well as the implementation of in vitro tissue cultures.

Picture (Jørgen Berge): Polar cod collected during the UNIS cruise AB202 in September 2012.