Unravelling the Past and Present: Marine Phytoplankton Population Dynamics in the face of the Anthropocene

Doctoral defense by Alexandra Schmidt, supervised by Laura Epp

  • Date: May 9, 2025
  • Time: 11:00 AM - 01:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Alexandra Schmidt
  • Location: University of Konstanz
  • Room: U307a + online
Unravelling the Past and Present: Marine Phytoplankton Population Dynamics in the face of the Anthropocene
During my PhD, I explored how Baltic Sea phytoplankton populations, especially the diatom Skeletonema marinoi, have responded to environmental pressures over the past 8,000 years. Using a mix of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), molecular ecology, and resurrected resting stages, I tracked population dynamics and found long-term genetic stability that is now being challenged by human impacts. This work shows how genomic monitoring can help us understand and assess ecosystem resilience.
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