Top image, from left: Tone Ulvatn (technician), Brenda L. Esteban Vazquez (PhD student), Mari H. Eilertsen (PI), Kristoffer F. Nilsen (master student) and Christian Nilsson (PhD student).
With the WormFEST project kicking off, the CBE Arctic team has expanded by hiring another PhD student – Christian Nilsson.
Christians PhD project focuses on the community structure and functioning of worm-forest ecosystems at Arctic hydrothermal vents and cold seeps as part of the WormFEST project.
Christian will aim to identify drivers behind the occurrence and structure of Arctic worm-forests, characterize their community composition and functional traits and reconstruct their food webs.
Amalie Johannessen finished her master thesis on the fauna of the Ægir vent field early this year (congratulations Amalie!), while Kristoffer F. Nilssen has started working on his master project in the CBE Arctic team.
Kristoffers master project investigates the diversity, geographical distribution and habitat specificity of the annelid genus Ophryotrocha from chemosynthesis-based ecosystems (CBEs).
Kristoffer will use DNA sequencing to uncover cryptic species and genetic divergence across different extreme environments, providing insight into how these species colonize and adapt to such habitats
PS – we have available master projects for students at Department of Biological Sciences (UiB) on fauna from Arctic CBEs. See our Opportunities page for more information!
cbearctic.com 
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