New ARCTOS PhD: Hanna Kauko

Last Friday, Sep 21st, Hanna Kauko successfully defended her PhD at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim.

The title of her thesis is:

“Light response and acclimation of microalgae in a changing Arctic”

Hanna investigated ice algae and phytoplankton communities, and the controlling role of light in the high Arctic pack ice region during the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition (N-ICE2015).

Hanna’s thesis consists of three published articles and one manuscript:

• Article I: Assmy P et al. (2017). Leads in Arctic pack ice enable early phytoplankton blooms below snow-covered sea ice. Scientific Reports 7, doi.org/10.1038/srep40850.
• Article II: Kauko H. M., et al. (2017), Windows in Arctic sea ice: Light transmission and ice algae in a refrozen lead, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., 122, 1486–1505, doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003626.
• Article III: Kauko H. M., et al. (2018), Algal Colonization of Young Arctic Sea Ice in Spring. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, 199, doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00199.
• Manuscript: Kauko H. M., et al. Assessing photoacclimation state of an Arctic under-ice phytoplankton bloom using in situ absorption measurements.

Supervisors of Hanna have been Dr. Phillip Assmy (NPI, Tromsø, Norway), Dr. Mats Granskog (NPI, Tromsø, Norway) and Professor Geir Johnsen (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway). The Assessment Committee of the thesis consisted of opponents Prof. Oliver Zielinski, University of Oldenburg, Germany and Prof. Stiig Markager, Aarhus University, Denmark, and the committee administrator Prof. Nicole Aberle-Malzahn, NTNU.

Congratulations to Dr. Hanna Kauko!