Two more new ARCTOS PhDs – Erin Kunisch and Irina Zhulay

Erin successfully defended her thesis on May 31th and June 1st at UiT in Tromsø. The title of her thesis is: Sea ice dependence in Arctic marine organisms: life cycles, resource use, and trophic linkages and can be downloaded HERE.

Her supervisors have been Bodil Bluhm (UiT), Øystein Varpe (University in Bergen), and Rolf Gradinger (UiT).

Erin’s thesis consists of three articles:

  1. Kunisch EH, Bluhm BA, Daase M, Gradinger R, Hop H, Melnikov I, Varpe Ø, Berge J (2020) Pelagic occurrences of the ice amphipod Apherusa glacialis throughout the Arctic. Journal of Plankton Research 42:73-86. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz072
  2. Kunisch EH, Graeve M, Flores H, Gradinger R, Varpe Ø, Bluhm BA. Do Arctic zooplankton feed during polar night? Insights into trophic transfer as revealed by lipids, fatty acids, and compound-specific stable isotopes. Advanced manuscript.
  3. Kunisch EH, Graeve M, Gradinger R, Haug T, Kovacs KM, Lydersen C, Varpe Ø, Bluhm BA (2021) Ice-algal carbon supports harp and ringed seal diets in the European Arctic: evidence from fatty acid and stable isotope markers. Marine Ecology Progress Series 675:181-197. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13834

Photo top: Bodil Bluhm (UiT), Sigrun Jonasdottir (DTNU), Erin Kunisch (UiT), Karianne Braathen (UiT), Øystein Varpe (UiB) from left to right. Photo: Ulrike Grote/UiT

Bodil Bluhm (UiT), Paul Renaud (Akvaplan-niva), Marit Reigstad (UiT), Irina Zhulay (UiT), Roy Ambli Dalmo (UiT), Anne Helena Solberg Tandberg (University Museum in Bergen), Dieter Piepenburg (AWI) from left to right Photo: Ulrike Grote/UiT

Irina defended her thesis on June 24 and the title of her thesis is: Arctic Deep-sea benthos: Biodiversity, food web, and biological and functional traits and can be downloaded HERE.

Irina’s supervisors have been Bodil Bluhm (UiT) and Paul Renaud (Akvaplan-niva).

Irina’s thesis consists of three articles:

  1. Zhulay, I., Iken, K., Renaud, P.E. & Bluhm, B.A. (2019). Epifaunal communities across marine landscapes of the deep Chukchi Borderland (Pacific Arctic). Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 151, 103065. 
  2. Zhulay, I., Bluhm, B.A., Renaud, P.E., Degen, R. & Iken, K. (2021). Functional pattern of benthic epifauna in the Chukchi Borderland, Arctic deep sea. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 609956.
  3. Zhulay, I., Iken, K., Renaud, P.E., Kosobokova, K. & Bluhm, B.A. Reduced efficiency of pelagic-benthic coupling in the Arctic deep sea during lower ice cover. (Manuscript).

Congratulations to both of them and all the best for their future!