Monika Winder, Professor, Stockholm University
E-mail: monika.winder@su.se
My research interest is in the consequences of environmental change for food webs and ecosystem functions. My research addresses questions in lakes, estuarine-coastal and ocean ecosystems with a special emphasis on planktonic organisms. I conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, Seattle, and at the University of California Davis, and received my PhD in Natural Sciences from the ETH in Zürich.
Monika Winder, Professor, Stockholm University
Email: monika.winder@su.se
My research interest is in the consequences of environmental change for food webs and ecosystem functions. My research addresses questions in lakes, estuarine-coastal and ocean ecosystems with a special emphasis on planktonic organisms. I conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, Seattle, and at the University of California Davis, and received my PhD in Natural Sciences from the ETH in Zürich
Noah Ngisiang’e, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Email: noah.ngisiange@su.se
My study aims to assess the impacts of environmental change on fish larvae productivity in seagrass habitats in Kenya and Tanzania. The studies investigate drivers and changes in coastal habitats at decadal, annual and seasonal time scales, combined with biophysical dispersal models to demonstrate ecosystem responses against socio economic stressors.
Kinlan Jan, PhD student Stockholm University
Email: kinlan.jan@su.se
My project aims to give a better description of the plankton-fish link using novel molecular tools. Planktivorous fish are key components of the pelagic food web as they support upper trophic levels, such as commercially important fish, and indirectly control algal growth by feeding on zooplankton. In this project, DNA metabarcoding on low levels of dietary DNA (dDNA) and modeling will be used to investigate the full prey spectrum of planktivorous fish. The outcome will provide a better understanding on the plankton-fish interactions and help predict the variation of energy flow from primary producer to fish under different scenarios.
Neea Hanström, PhD student Stockholm University
Email: neea.hanström@su.se
The goal of my PhD thesis is to determine drivers and functions of dinoflagellate parasites in plankton food webs. Parasitic symbionts contribute to the carbon flows in the marine food webs but the extent of the effects they have on the plankton community is still largely unknown. I use DNA metabarcoding and microscopy from field collected samples across the Baltic Sea environmental gradient, to gain better understanding on how parasitic dinoflagellates and zooplankton interact with each other, and what impacts they might have on the marine carbon cycling and energy transfer in the marine food webs.
Lauren Aylward, Postdoc, Adaptation of herring larvae to the seasonal dynamics of the Baltic Sea, funded by Carl Tryggers
Email: Lauren.aylward@su.se
Neea Hanström, PhD student Stockholm University
Email: neea.hanström@su.se
The goal of my PhD thesis is to determine drivers and functions of dinoflagellate parasites in plankton food webs. Parasitic symbionts contribute to the carbon flows in the marine food webs but the extent of the effects they have on the plankton community is still largely unknown. I use DNA metabarcoding and microscopy from field collected samples across the Baltic Sea environmental gradient, to gain better understanding on how parasitic dinoflagellates and zooplankton interact with each other, and what impacts they might have on the marine carbon cycling and energy transfer in the marine food webs.
Ryan Daniels, Researcher, Genetic population structure of Baltic Sea herring, funded by BalticWaters
Email: ryan.daniels@su.se
Airam Sarmiento-Lezcano, Postdoc, Ecology and dynamics of mesopelagic fishes
Email: airman.sarmiento@su.se
I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) in Spain. My research focuses on the ecology and dynamics of mesopelagic and bathypelagic fishes, aiming to improve our understanding of how hydrographic conditions shape the spatial and temporal distribution of micronekton and regulate energy transfer in the ocean. I currently lead three research projects (TROF-MP), GYROVAGO, and MESOFISH) focusing on mesopelagic trophic interactions, micronekton dynamics, and carbon fluxes in the North Atlantic.
At Stockholm University, I aim to investigate the diet of mesopelagic and bathypelagic fishes in the North Atlantic using DNA metabarcoding techniques, as well as to quantify carbon fluxes from the base of the food web to their predators.
MASTER STUDENTS
Karl Gillow, 2025- Trophic ecology of detrivorous fish in Bolivian Amazon oxbow lakes, in collaboration with Danny Rejas, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia.
Marilia Parsa, 2025- Insights into biodiversity of fish species and its drivers through census techniques and eDNA metabarcoding across mangrove forest systems in the Galapagos archipelago.
Siri Borenberg, 2025- Tracking Baltic Sea phytoplankton community composition in relation to climate during the Holocene using ancient sedimentary DNA, in collaboration with Peter Heintzman, Centre for Paleogenetics.
Yannick Woerner, 2025- Population dynamics of Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus) in the Stockholm archipelago.
Alice Branner, 2024- Spawning dynamics of herring larvae in the Stockholm archipelago
Sofie Pioch Broder, 2024- Ecosystem response to Aluminum treatment in a shallow Baltic Sea bay, with Sofia Wikström as supervisor
LAB ALUMNI
PhD Students
Tianshou Xu, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Baptiste Serandour, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Per Hedberg, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Andreas Novotny, Ph.D. student and researcher, Stockholm University
Konrad Karlsson, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Alfred Burian, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Jens Nielsen, Ph.D. student, Stockholm University
Rafael Bermudez, Ph.D. student, Kiel University
Current position: Lecturer at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuador
Postdocs and Researchers
Dr. Sara Zamora, Postdoc, Stockholm University
Dr. David Costalago, Postdoc, Stockholm University
Current position: Researcher, University of British Columbia
Dr. Jennifer R. Griffiths, Postdoc, Stockholm University
Current position: Technical Lead, Habitat Strategic Initiative at Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, USA
Dr. Pavel Kratina, Postdoc, UC Davis
Current position: ecturer at Queen Mary University of London
Dr. Andrea Downing, Postdoc, Stockholm University
Current position: postdoc at the Stockholm Resilience Center, SU
Dr. Olle Hjerne, Researcher, Stockholm University
Current position: Researcher at Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB
Master students
Becca Roth, MS.c. student, Seasonal variation in trophic positions for herring and zooplankton at a spawning ground in the coastal Baltic Sea
Hanna Östling, MS.c. student, Drivers of seasonal and inter annual dynamics of small pelagic fisheries
Sophia Guthke, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Determining Zooplankton and Fish Biodiversity in Amazonia (Bolivia) freshwater lakes with the help of fish stomach content.
Tim Meili, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Adaptations to seasonal plankton dynamics of spring and autumn spawned herring larvae.
Taylor Mitchell, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Potential regulation of protein osmolytes in sea louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) for possible short-term survival in a hyposaline environment.
Max Tallberg, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Feeding niche partitioning of fish larvae in the pelagic Baltic Sea.
Yannick Hermann, MS.c. student, UiT Tromsø, Stockholm University: Insights from 3D motion-sensors and acoustics of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) depredation on Norway´s Greenland Halibut fishery.
Noemi Merz, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Identifying the key drivers of domestic shark consumption in Sri Lanka and the potential health risk due to neurotoxin accumulation in sharks.
Amalia McAllister, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Genetic seascape of fish in the western Indian Ocean
Leo Näsström, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Connectivity of the marbled parrot fish in the western Indian Ocean
Emelie Bergmann, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Dynamics of planktivorous fish food webs
Josefine Schmidt, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Effects of marine heatwaves on plankton dynamcics
Rebecca Schröter, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Uptake efficiency of cyanobacteria by zooplankton
Kinlan Jan, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Copepod feeding preferences along the Baltic Sea environmental gradients:An assessment of zooplankton interactions using DNA metabarcoding
Vivien Holub, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Connectivity through larval dispersal in Kenya and Tanzania: A hydrodynamic connectivity model of marine protected areas
Calum Young, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Examination of plankton communities, invaders and harmful algal species within mangrove areas of the Galápagos Islands using eDNA metabarcoding
Stefan Eiler, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Planktonic crustacean communities in the Galapagos Archipelago: Spatio-temporal changes and consequences for ecosystem production
Elina Viinamäki, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: A genetic study of fish larvae in coastal East Africa
Per Hedberg, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Linkages of fish recruitment to habitat production in coastal East Africa
Lia Simona Puiac, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Adaptive potential of copepods to climate change: the role of phenotypic plasticity and genetic variation
Stéphane Karasiewicz, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: The effect of temperature on predator-prey interactions and growth fitness
Matteo Fusilli, MS.c. student, Stockholm University: Using DNA barcoding to detect feeding preference of copepods
Alexander Raschke, MS.c. student, Geomar, Kiel, Germany
GUEST RESEARCHERS
Dany Rejas, PhD, University of San Simón, Bolivia
Oystein Varpe, Professor, The University Centre in Svalbard, Norway
Winder Lab 