Christian is a doctoral student researching deep-sea worms

What do you work with?

“I’m a PhD student at the University of Bergen, and I’m working on chemosynthetic ecosystems in the deep sea, such as hydrothermal vents and seep fields, where methane gas rises from sediments deep beneath the seafloor. Here, life isn’t driven by sunlight, which is used by plants and algae, but by chemical compounds utilised by microorganisms.”
 
“My research focuses on worm forests, which are the most biologically diverse microhabitats in these environments – that’s where you find almost all life. I’m going to describe the variations in these worm forests and find out which animals live in which type of worm forest.”

Why is this important? 

“These ecosystems have hardly been explored at all, and many species haven’t been described or even discovered. At the same time, these are areas that may be considered for deep-sea mining in the future. Therefore, it’s important that we have knowledge of these environments so that we can protect and preserve them for the future, and also preserve the biodiversity found in the deep sea.” 

Have you discovered anything new? 

“Yes, we have discovered a new area of worm forests in a location between Svalbard and Greenland. We drove a remotely operated underwater vehicle in a location where no one had dived before, and there we saw white bacterial mats, which is a sign that something is rising up through the seafloor. We found signs of a hot underwater spring, we measured methane in the water, we found worm forests and a little more life than is usually found in such places. It was very exciting.”

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How did you get the job?

"I started the Bachelor’s programme in Marine Sciences because I wanted to study marine biology and I knew I wanted to work with the deep sea. After a lecture by deep-sea biologist Thomas Dahlgren, I emailed him to ask about opportunities for a Bachelor’s thesis. He then asked me if I’d like to describe a new species – and of course I did.  I wanted to do it properly, so I worked in my spare time and also took an internship course where I continued working on this worm. It resulted in a published scientific article the year after my Bachelor’s degree, which isn’t that common."

"When it came to writing my master’s thesis, I wanted to work more with the entire ecosystem. I went for the deepest area I could find and wrote about the ecology of Kosterfjorden. There, I worked with researcher Mattias Obst and trained an AI model to analyse video footage, and that eventually became a scientific article too. Obviously, it was good to have two articles on my CV when this PhD position came up." 

What advice would you give to students who want to pursue a career in research?

“It’s important to remember that Bachelor’s and Master’s projects are, in fact, research and that you can build from them. It might not always be the exact field you’re interested in, but you learn research methods, demonstrate that you can work independently, start a project and then see it through to completion. For me, it started with describing a new species of worm and then describing an ecosystem in Kosterfjorden. Now I’m working on deep-sea ecosystems – which was my goal all the time.“

What from your education has been most useful in your work?

“The study environment was very encouraging in terms of exploring and finding my own path. When I wanted to write the articles, it was easy to find a researcher to collaborate with, to do an internship and to gain this experience. And the programmes in marine sciences were very good and provided a broad range of skills. Although I now call myself an ecologist, I also work with chemistry and geology, and when we start talking about how currents affect the worm forests – then we’re into oceanography. I really do everything. 

“The breadth of the programme is a strength. Especially in deep-sea research, where it’s all about describing something new. Then it’s a matter of taking every clue you can find to solve the problem."