People

Dag L. Aksnes
Professor Emeritus
Two of my current research questions are about mesopelagic fishes and their potential role in carbon sequestration and about effects of increased terrestrial greening on marine ecosystems. I am also engaged in science advise on how to achieve more sustainable food and feed production.

Sergey Budaev
Researcher
My current research focuses on individual cognition, decision-making and personality in animals. Although I am interested in any species, most of my work so far has been conducted on fish. I try to integrate both proximate and ultimate causation and use both experimental and modelling approaches.

Andrea Campos-Candela
Postdoc
I am a (theoretical) ecologist enthusiastic in bringing together theoretical ecology and empirical science, by integrating experimental, field and modelling perspectives and methods.

Magda L. Dumitru
Researcher
I investigate the evolution and adaptability of conscious processes and underlying neural structures in human and non-human organisms. My early research tapped into conscious and subconscious processes involved in language, vision, and numerical cognition.

Sigrunn Eliassen
Professor (Pro-Rector with Responsibility for Education)
My current research focus is on the evolution of mating systems. I use theoretical models to study adaptive behavioural decisions in different ecological settings.

Katja Enberg
Professor
My main interest is sustainable fisheries, including the effects of fisheries on genetic and phenotypic traits as well as dynamics of the harvested populations and ecosystems. I am keen on finding sustainable solutions for using our natural resources for feeding the growing human population.

Øyvind Fiksen
Professor
I am particularly interested in behaviour and life-history of marine organisms, and how traits emerge in populations and ecosystems through natural selection.

Jarl Giske
Professor
My main research interest is to model how animals make decisions. Currently I study the proximate architecture for decision-making in animals and the implications of this architecture on individual behaviour and on phenotypic and genetic diversity in populations.

Mikko Heino
Professor
My research focuses on fisheries-induced evolution, applied evolution, fish and fisheries ecology, life history theory, and resource economics, mostly using statistics and numerical modelling but also with experimental evolution in the lab.

Christian Jørgensen
Professor (Group Leader)
I work with adaptation as a tool to build models that scale mechanisms at the individual level to population-level patterns and evolutionary outcomes. Topics of interest include mating systems, fishing-induced evolution, life history theory, and algorithms for modelling evolution.

Sara Karvo
PhD student
I am interested in the interactions between ocean physics and marine ecology. In my PhD thesis, I study how currents transport open ocean mesopelagic organisms to shallower shelf sea areas.

Stein Kaartvedt
Guest Researcher (Professor Emeritus at University of Oslo)
My interest is pelagic ecology, and how environment, predators, and prey together affect abundance, distribution, and behaviour of zooplankton and fishes.

Tom J. Langbehn
Researcher
I am a quantitative ecologist, or "ocean-going modeller," with a broad interest in global change ecology, evolution, and sustainable fisheries. My primary focus lies in the pelagic ecology of high-latitude oceans and the ocean twilight zone, aiming to understand the mechanisms that link individual behaviours, interactions, and life histories of zooplankton and fishes to large-scale patterns in the environment.

Gabriella Ljungström
Researcher
I am an evolutionary ecologist with an interest in global change ecology. My research has mainly focused on understanding how environmental changes, and particularly climate change, affect animals that live in seasonal environments. I also have a strong interest in sustainable use of marine resources and work on several topics relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Anita Stene Løtvedt
PhD Student
I am an applied mathematician who is especially interested in environmental and dynamical modelling, as well as sensitivity analysis. My PhD project "The Effect of Water Column Dynamics on the Microbial Food Web and Transfer to Higher Trophic Levels" is a part of the project "How can fisheries contribute to a more sustainable future?".

Marc Mangel
Professor Emeritus
Marc was Professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and Adjunct Professor associated with the Theoretical Ecology Group until he retired in 2021 and is now active Professor Emeritus at UiB.

Nadja Meister
PhD Student
I am a marine ecologist with a passion for the intertidal zone and its diverse marine communities. My PhD research aims to disentangle how environmental factors affect blue mussels and their predators along vertical and fjord gradients, as well as their potential as a sustainable and nutritious food source.

Rachael Morgan
Researcher
I am an ecophysiologist interested in understanding the mechanisms by which fish are able to acclimate and adapt to a changing climate. In particular, my research focuses on the effects of hypoxia and high temperature in tropical fish species.

Fulori Vakalutusau Nainoca-Waqairagata
PhD Student
I work on links between locally managed marine areas, herbivorous fish abundance, and the control of algal overgrowth in Fiji. My long-term goal is to foster greater community participation in the sustainable use of the Pacific’s natural resources.

Iliana Vasiliki Ntinou
PhD Student
I will be studying the impact of changing oceanographic conditions on the seasonal and longer-term dynamics of three Calanus species in Disko Bay, Greenland, as part of the interdisciplinary project Climate Narratives.

Anders F. Opdal
Researcher
I am currently very interested in the field of life history evolution, and often find myself somewhere in the interface between long-term data series and theoretical modelling.

Ingunn Stautland
PhD Student

Juliette Surjus
PhD student
I am a marine ecologist interested in using modelling to combine mathematics and biology to explore ecological questions. As part of the Arctic Ocean 2050 research programme (Polhavet 2050), I will model how Calanus spp. are adapted to their environment, particularly light, and their distribution across the Arctic Ocean.

Hélène Thibault
Postdoc
I am a marine ecologist interested in the role of micronekton in pelagic ecosystems, from the mesopelagic zone to continental shelves. My research combines field observations, trait-based ecology, and mechanistic modeling approaches to understand how organism distribution and behaviour interact with physical ocean processes to shape ecosystem dynamics.

Arjen A. W. van der Kamp
PhD student
I focus on how seasonal temperature availability and variation influence bioenergetic trade-offs through the year, and how this may affect gonad maturation and spawning time in cod and herring. My research interests include behavioral and evolutionary ecology, as well as marine systems.

Øystein Varpe
Professor
My research is on why we observe variation in life histories and behaviour, both within and between species. I am also fascinated by seasonality and aim to understand how seasonal environments shape ecological processes and evolutionary adaptations.

Jacqueline Weidner
Guest Researcher (Associate Professor at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)
I am a biologist with interest in evolution and teaching evolution. During my PhD I was working on theoretical models describing fish growth under hormonal regulation, particularly the impact of predation and parasitism on juvenile growth. During the last years I have focused on teaching and the question of how to make evolution understandable for learners of different ages - from students to children in primary school.

Saron Berhe
Affiliated PhD Student
I study fish behaviour using acoustic telemetry. My research focuses on understanding how rising temperatures and the introduction of invasive species influence habitat use, interactions, and potential competition between the salmonids Arctic charr and pink salmon in the rapidly changing Arctic environment.

Erlend Mjelde Hanssen
Affiliated PhD Student
In my PhD at NORCE, I am focusing on the impact of otter predation on salmon populations, the stakeholder acceptability of various otter deterrents as an alternative to culling, and otter behavior and selectivity during the depredation of adult Atlantic salmon. My supervisors are Robert Lennox (NORCE) and Christian Jørgensen.

Maja Hægland Bakke
MSc 2026-2027
I will investigate whether the ICES fisheries advice system is robust to structural uncertainties in stock assessment models. Supervisors: Daniel Howell (IMR) and Katja Enberg.

Remi Bermingham
MSc 2026-2027
I am studying the behavioral response of Atlantic Cod to fluctuating freshwater releases from hydropower plants in two Norwegian fjords, using acoustic telemetry and generalized additive modelling (GAMs). Supervisors: Knut Wiik Vollset (NORCE) and Katja Enberg.

Gustav Sundvor
MSc 2026-2027
I will study effects of natural mortality on dynamics of Norwegian Spring-Spawning Herring, based on a historical dataset from IMR and the current SAM model used in stock assessment. Supervisors: Sindre Vatnehol (IMR), Katja Enberg, and Erling Kåre Stenevik (IMR).

Lilly Alise Vinje
MSc 2026-2027
I am investigating potential cryptic diversity within the benthic hydrozoan genus Rhizocaulus in Norwegian waters. Supervisors: Joan J. Soto Angel (Bergen University Museum) and Katja Enberg.