Contributions to the Icelandic Ecology Conference

Posted on: 24/04/2021 by Arnar Pálsson

Several members of our lab and students we help supervise contributed to the Icelandic Ecology Conference in April 2021.

Lasius niger ant dragging a larvae. Picture taken by Marco Mancini.

Marco Mancini - Unveiling the myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iceland. A survey of invasive ant species diversity and distribution

Arnar Pálsson - Unleashing of cryptic genetic variation by environmental challenges and genetic assimilation studied at level of gene expression

Sarah Steele - Correspondence of morphological divergence across genotypes in response to diet follows evolutionary divergence of ecologically specialized morphs

Sebastien Matlosz - DNA methylation in Arctic charr: Epigenetics to explain resource polymorphism.

Link to abstract book.

Posted in General biology, Talks and events

Are there ants under Reykjavík?

Posted on: 26/02/2021 by Arnar Pálsson

Are there ants under Reykjavík?

"Most Icelanders probably think that there are no ants in Iceland, just as I did when I first arrived here, but our research has revealed five different species that have settled here. Four thrive in houses due to the heat and the humidity, but one species lives outside in gardens," says Marco Mancini, master student in biology at the University of Iceland and a member of the antsquad at the University's Institute of Biology. The squad maps the distribution of ants in Iceland, and examines whether there are giant ant colonies in the city's sewage system.

The project is called Ants in Iceland (Maurar á Íslandi) and is linked to Marco's master project. The project is conduced under the supervision of Arnar Pálsson, professor of bioinformatics and Mariana Lucia Tamayo, associate professor in Environment and Natural Resources. Andreas Guðmundsson, BS student in biology is also involved in the project.

Ant queen.

Posted in General biology

Master of Science (MS) program on aquatic biology and fisheries

Posted on: 22/09/2020 by Arnar Pálsson

The oceans are fundamental ecosystems on the planet and source the most important resources for Icelands economy. The University of Iceland (UI) and the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) collaborate to offer a multidisciplinary two-year Master of Science (MS) program on aquatic biology and fisheries, emphasizing freshwater and marine ecology and fisheries in sub-Arctic environments. The program will be instigated in 2020 as a specialization within MS in Biology.

Students can take projects at the Institute of Biology, the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and also at other affiliated institutions and research centers. Students are admitted based on merit (see University of Iceland webpage) and will find a project and supervisor in the first year of study.

Háskóli Íslands

Picture of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from the University of Iceland collections.

The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has many research areas, including but exclusive to Fish tagging, Lumpfish research, Oceanography, Seabed mapping, Seal research and Whale Research.

The Institute of biology studies many aspects of marine and aquatic biology, spanning questions of ecology and evolution, to toxicology and behavioral biology.

See for instance a list of previous MS projects in the fields of marine-, aquatic- and fish biology.

Some examples of the research topics and potential supervisors are listed below.

What is the population structure and diversity of fisheries stocks? Einar Arnason, Steve Campana, Gudrun Marteinsdottir, Snæbjörn Pálsson
How do fishing stocks respond to fishing and climate change? Einar Arnason, Steve Campana, Gudrun Marteinsdottir
How did freshwater amphipods survive million years under the glaciers? Snæbjörn Pálsson
How do cod stocks evolve and change over the last century? Einar Arnason, Steve Campana
Which genes and environments explain the diversity of Arctic charr? Sigurdur S. Snorrason, Arnar Pálsson, Zophonías O. Jónsson
How related are different populations of Arctic charr and Brown trout in Iceland? Sigurdur S. Snorrason, Arnar Pálsson, Zophonías O. Jónsson
What explains the diversity and distribution of whelk in subartic waters? Snæbjörn Pálsson, Zophonías O. Jónsson