ABOUT ME
I'm a question-oriented researcher and have been lucky to work with different taxa addressing many questions relating to environmental responses in animals. I'm always excited to learn new approaches to understanding how animals function. Common themes that span all my research topics so far have been the physiological responses of organisms to their environment and the ability of species to survive in changing environments or from emerging diseases.
I completed my PhD in the group of prof Mikko Nikinmaa at the University of Turku in 2016. I then worked at Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, where we (the projects of Profs Ken Field and DeeAnn Reeder) studied the responses of North American bats to the deadly fungal disease White Nose Syndrome. I also surveyed the occurrence of Corona-, Filo- and Paramyxoviruses in bats and rodents in South Sudan, funded by the PREDICT program.
In 2017 I worked as a postdoctoral researcher for Prof Anssi Vainikka at the Aquatic Ecology research group at the University of Eastern Finland, where I studied human-induced evolution and options for evolutionarily sustainable restoration of populations in brown trout (Salmo trutta). Stay tuned for publications...
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Ecological and evolutionary physiology of fish
Physiological processes can appear infinitely complex, but it is crucial to understand this puzzle, as physiological change ultimately drives the changes at the population and species level, whether it is an increase in abundance or extinction. With a better understanding of physiology, we would also be able to better understand disease, aging and many issues challenging wildlife management -and the society. I wish to understand what makes fish what they are, and how are they challenged by human impacts, such as fishing and climate change.
Evolutionary genomics
I am fascinated by understanding how the information encoded in the DNA leads to all the phenotypic richness we see in nature. There are genome-wide, large processes as well as seemingly small changes in single nucleotides in the DNA that contribute to this -studying both of these approaches is valuable and it is my goal to understand these processes from the single base pair to the structural evolution of whole genomes.
POSITIONS
Jan 2020 - ongoing
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Helsinki, Finland
In this Academy of Finland-funded project, I work with Dr. Tutku Aykanat and the Evolution, Conservation, Genomics group of Prof. Craig Primmer to understand the physiology of life-history variation in salmon (Salmo salar). We study the genotype-phenotype relationship of vgll3 and six6 alleles associated with maturation.
Jan 2018 - Dec 2019
Postdoctoral fellow, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, I studied the role of myoglobin, an oxygen-binding protein which is also responsible for much more than that, in the responses of fish to increasing oxygen demand. Collaborators: Prof Andrew Cossins and Dr. Michael Berenbrink.
September - December 2019
Research visit, Katja Anttila lab, University of Turku
Jan-Dec 2017
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Eastern Finland
Physiology, behavior and genetics of freshwater populations of brown trout, developing strategies for evolutionary restoration of natural populations.
2015-2016
Research associate / Post doctoral researcher, Bucknell University
Resistance and resilience to White Nose Syndrome in North American bats.
EDUCATION
2011 - 2016
PhD, University of Turku
Physiology and genetics
Thesis: Diel patterns and tissue-specificity of environmental responses in fish.
Ecological immunology and physiology of bats
Bats are crucial members of many ecosystems, and have remarkable adaptations that have contributed to their huge species richness. In temperate and subarctic climates, bats hibernate during the winter, which is an impressive adaptation in its own right. Unfortunately, hibernation has made bats susceptible to a cold-loving fungal pathogen that is responsible for the mortality of millions of bats in North America since 2006. The nature of the immune response can be traced to the cell-type level by measuring cytokines responsible for communication between immune cells, and in the group of Ken Field and DeeAnn Reeder we took advantage of this approach in an experimental setting.
ADADEMIC SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS AND POSITIONS
2010 - 2011
M. Sc., University of Turku
Ecology
2007 - 2010
B. Sc., University of Turku
Ecology
NETWORKING
I've previously organised...
A session in Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, 2019, Seville, Spain
"Fueling the fire of life – Evolutionary physiology of oxygen supply in vertebrates"
A session in Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, 2018, Italy, Florence
International Workshop for PhD students and Postdoctoral Fellows in Salmonid Research (NoWPaS, 2018, Finland)
