Image: The CBE Arctic team. From the left – Christian, Selma, Kristoffer, Tone, Mari, David and Brenda.
The CBE Arctic team is led by PI Mari H. Eilertsen. She is a researcher at the Department of Biological Sciences (BIO), University of Bergen, and part of the leader group of the Centre for Deep Sea Research.
Students
Brenda L. Esteban Vazquez is a PhD candidate using molecular data to study the diversity, adaptations and connectivity of gastropods in the family Rissoidae from Arctic CBEs. Research Gate.
Christian L. Nilsson is writing his PhD on community structure and functioning of worm-forest ecosystems at Arctic hydrothermal vents and cold seeps as part of the WormFEST project. ORCID.
Kristoffer F. Nilsen is a master student focusing on the diversity, distribution and habitat specificity of Ophryotrocha from Arctic chemosynthesis-based ecosystems.
Selma Berg Eriksen is a master student studying the faunal community of Jøtul vent field on the Knipovich ridge.
Alumni
Amalie Johannessen defended her MSc in January 2025 on the faunal communities of the Ægir vent field.
Anna Tomine R. Sørensen defended her MSc in July 2024 on the faunal communities of the Jan Mayen vent fields.
Marte L. B. Klemetsdal defended her thesis in 2023 on the fauna of deep cold seeps in the Arctic. She is currently doing a PhD at the Centre for Sustainable Area Management (CeSAM)
Haakon Arthur Pedersen defended his thesis in 2023 on fishes from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps along the AMOR.
Technichians
We work closely with several technicians at BIO who have specific competences that are crucial to the team.
Tone Ulvatn is our lab manager and also manages the working collections, and helps out with cruise planning and execution.
David Rees helps out with DNA lab work, research cruises, and is and expert on processing of (sometimes challenging) deep-sea fauna for DNA barcoding.
Broader scientific environment at UiB
The CBE Arctic team is part of the Deep-Sea Biology research group at the Department of Biological Sciences. We are also part of the multidiciplinary Centre for Deep Sea Research, where we work together with geologists, geochemists and microbiologists to explore and understand the deep-sea environment. The CBE Arctic team works closely with the Department of Natural History at the University Museum of Bergen (UMB), especially the Invertebrates Collection. UMB has important taxonomic expertise on several of the taxa we work on, and the samples we collect are incorporated into the UMB collections.
cbearctic.com 