New Senior Lecturer Rhian Waller explores the world of deep sea corals
In January, Rhian Waller left the US east coast and moved to the Swedish west coast for a position at the Department of Marine Sciences. "Coming to Tjärnö is extremely exciting because there are corals living right in our backyard!" says Rhian Waller.
What are you going to do here?
"My research focuses on reproduction and development of cold water organisms, particularly deep sea corals. I’m really interested in how the environment shapes and controls reproductive processes, and so how a changing environment is going to affect deep sea animals in the future. Reproduction is a foundational process; without it, no species will survive, so in this changing ocean it’s important we understand what the trickle down effects will be."
"I was at Tjärnö for the whole year with my family in 2019, on sabbatical with a Marie Curie fellowship award. I was collaborating with Ann Larsson and Anita Tullrot (Kosterhavets Nationalpark), looking at reproductive processes of the deep reef building coral Lophelia pertusa. Through this collaboration we started to look at new avenues for reproductive research with this species, such as the mechanics of fertilization and examining how fertilization is affected by downstream distance - things that have never been explored in these deep living corals before."
What did you do before?
"I come from a research position at the University of Maine, but I work in deep sea environments all over the world. Currently I have projects in the Gulf of Alaska, Chilean Patagonia, Northeast Atlantic and Antarctica."
What do you do when you are not working?
"Mostly I spend time with my husband and two young sons. We really enjoy being outside - skating and sledding in winter; hiking, camping and swimming in summer. Recently we’ve done a lot of cycling, and are looking forward to trying out bike-packing this summer on some of Sweden’s long trails."
Something else you would like to share?
"Just that i’m really excited to be back! It is a big step to leave the US after living there for 20 years (I am originally from the UK), and it’s been a very long process lining everything up, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Selling our house, work visas, setting up school and preschool for our boys, shipping our personal belongings - it all takes a lot of logistics, time and patience when things go wrong. I have felt like my training in organizing multinational research cruises has been put to good use! But we’re very excited for the opportunities this move provides, both for me as a researcher and teacher, but also for my family to grow up in Sweden."
