New PhD student Luisa Kumpitsch studies climate change effects on external fertilizers
Luisa Kumpitsch recently started her PhD at the Department of Marine Sciences. She very much enjoys the nature around her workplace at Tjärnö Marine Laboratory, and is eager to learn Swedish. In her free time she looks for owls and practices kick-boxing.
What are you going to do here?
"During my PhD, I am planning to study sperm-egg interactions in marine broadcast spawners, like sea cucumbers or sea urchins, and how these interactions are impacted by climate change. The successful fertilization of an egg by sperm is essential for the maintenance of life. Especially in marine external fertilizers, when gametes are released to the water column, fertilization is a complex process, where sperm cells find the eggs via chemotaxis. Climate change consequences, such as ocean acidification or temperature elevation, represent challenges for gametes of marine external fertilizers, as they might reduce their fertility or affect fertilization."
What did you do before?
"I studied my master's degree in Dresden, Germany. At the same time, I worked as a research assistent in the group of applied zoology and studied reactive oxygen species in the sperm of different Drosophila mutant lines. I also conducted behavioural experiments with Drosophila and bed bugs. For my Master thesis, I went to GEOMAR in Kiel and the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Denmark. I worked on macroplastic effects on the physiology and structure of blue mussel aggregates in Kerteminde, Denmark. During that time I discovered my passion for marine biology."
What do you do when you are not working?
"I love to spend time in nature, especially going bird-watching. I am particularly interested in owls and am already searching for the best birdwatching spots on Tjärnö. I love languages and when I am not working, I do my best to practise them as much as I can, especially my Japanese. I also really enjoy kickboxing, which I have been doing for several years in Germany."
Something else you would like to share?
"Tjärnö is a really special place to live and I am happy to be surrounded by nature here. As I am used to live in a big city, I appreciate having the opposite here right now. I am really excited about getting to know Sweden, as I have only been here twice before and these were really short visits. I also hope that I can improve my Swedish skills quickly, as I think moving to a new country always goes along with also communicating in the national language."
Interview: Susanne Liljenström
