Anna Schukat was the first Ph.D.-student within the GENUS project who has finished her Ph.D. program. Anna successfully defended her thesis in Nov. 2012:
"Trophic interactions and energetics of key components in the Benguela Current Ecosystem: The role of calanoid copepods and pelagic decapods".
Congratulations!
Anna now works as a postdoc in GENUS II.

University Education:

2009 - 2012
PhD student at the University of Bremen - Topic: "Physiological aspects of calanoid copepods and decapods from the Benguela upwelling system – adaptations and metabolic rates"

2008
Diploma in Biology at the University of Bremen - Title of the thesis: “On the lipid biochemistry and enzyme activity of the Antarctic euphausiids Euphausia superba and Thysanoessa macrura  – physiological feeding adaptations”

Main Research Interests:

GENUS Sub-Project 6:
Quantification and modeling of trophic interactions of important meso- and macrozooplankton -  the impact of calanoid copepods and decapods on the carbon cycle in the Benguela upwelling system.

The main topic of our study is focused on the impact of dominant calanoid copepods and decapods on the carbon cycle in the Benguela upwelling system. Abundance and biomass as well as individual ingestion- and metabolic rates of the species are levied. To quantify the trophic interactions within this coastal upwelling system, feeding behaviour and diet composition are measured with classical methods (feeding experiments) and novel methods (biomarker: fatty acids and stable isotopes). Based on a model (ECOPATH and ECOSIM) these data will contribute to the clarification of trophic interactions and energy fluxes between the various compartments of the pelagic ecosystem.

Conference Contributions:

Schukat A, Saborowski R, Hagen W (2009). Seasonal changes of lipid composition and enzyme activities of the Antarctic euphausiids Euphausia superba and Thysanoessa macrura. 14. Crustaceologen-Tagung, 2-5 April 2009, Rostock, Germany (talk).

Schukat A, Saborowski R, Hagen W (2009). Food utilization of the Antarctic euphausiids Euphausia superba and Thysanoessa macrura: seasonal and ontogenetic variations of digestive enzymes. 3rd Globec Open Science Meeting, 22-26 June 2009, Victoria, Canada (poster).