People

Dag L. Aksnes
Professor Emeritus

Emma Atkinson
Visiting PhD student from Univeristy of Alberta, Canada
I am based in the Lewis Research Group, which has a mix of mathematicians and biologists who work on a wide range of questions and systems all loosely connected by modelling. My thesis research focuses on spot prawn population biology and their trap fishery on the coast of British Columbia. I also model population dynamics of wild Pacific salmon and their myriad stressors.

Sergey Budaev
Researcher

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 draw on my background in cognitive neuroscience to explore consciousness in living organisms. This includes investigating brain anatomy and its relationship to cognition and the environment. I contribute to the Salmon Digital Twin project.

Sigrunn Eliassen
Professor (Vice Dean 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 (Vice Dean for Marine Research)
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.

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.

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.

Christian Lindemann
Researcher

Gabriella Ljungström
Postdoc
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
Postdoc
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

Juan Manuel Valero Rodríguez
Postdoc
I am a marine ecologist studying environmental impacts in coastal ecosystems. I currently focus on seasonality-induced changes in Arctic fucoids and their distribution under a climate-change context.

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.

Ruth-Sofie Rødberg Arne
MSc 2024-2025
I am interested in understanding how hypoxic waters affect fish. In my thesis I am looking into how the vision of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is affected by hypoxia.
Supervisors: Andrea Campos-Candela, Rachael Morgan, and Christian Jørgensen.

Malene Dekke Eik
MSc 2023-2025
In my Master’s thesis I will use ecosystem modelling to estimate the production potential of Saccharina latissima in a low trophic farm located in a offshore wind energy area. Supervisors: Antonio Aguera Garcia (Institute of Marine Research) and Christian Jørgensen.

Rebekka Haugland
MSc student 2024-2025
I am exploring the impacts of substituting small pelagic fish with alternative protein sources from land and sea. My research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, nutritional value, and the potential of sustainable diets.
Supervisors: Gabriella Ljungström and Katja Enberg.

Hanif Kawousi
MSc student 2022-2024
I will use object-oriented programming to create a model depicting evolution in songbirds experiencing fear and hunger. By doing this, I wish to investigate the mechanisms behind emotional stressors and better understand how this can affect the songbird’s evolutionary trajectory. Supervisors: Sergey Budaev and Jarl Giske.

Yola Keenlyside
MSc student 2024-2025
I am interested in learning how models can aid our understanding of real-life biology. In my Master’s thesis I will explore the ecological niche of the deep-water redfish Sebastes mentella. Supervisors: Tom J. Langbehn and Christian Jørgensen.

Bergfrid Høgås Skjæveland
MSc student 2023-2025
I will study the two key zooplankton climate indicator species Calanus finmarchicus (North Atlantic) and Calanus glacialis (Arctic) in Isfjorden at Svalbard, which is strongly impacted by Atlantic water, except the innermost part, Billefjorden. Supervisors: Janne Søreide (UNIS), Tom J. Langbehn, and Øystein Varpe.