Brendon Lee (Postdoc)
I am a fisheries scientist who specialises in studying marine fish life history, population structure, biology, and species interactions to contribute to their sustainable management.
I completed my BSc (Honours) in Ichthyology and Fisheries Science from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, and later my MSc in Marine Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, while based at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban. During this period, I focused on describing the biology and assessing the stock status of a large pelagic predator on the east coast of Southern Africa. My PhD in Fisheries Science from Rhodes University aimed to use a multidisciplinary approach to understand the complex stock structure dynamics for Patagonian toothfish on the Patagonian Shelf.
Throughout my career, I have worked in various academic, private sector, and government-based roles related to species across the nearshore, demersal, and benthopelagic marine environments. Most recently, I was responsible for leading biological and ecological research related to improving the management of large-scale industrial longline and trawl-based fisheries in the southwest Atlantic ecosystem.
Currently, I teach various fisheries-related courses at the University of Iceland. My primary research project, in affiliation with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, focuses on addressing local and regional scale questions related to the population structure of blue whiting in the northeast Atlantic. The sustainable management of this species is of critical importance to fisheries and ecosystem dynamics, and my research aims to contribute to its sustainable management.
Francesco Golin (PhD student)
Living nearby the mountains of northern Italy, as a kid the summertime has always been a special time for me, as it meant: camping by the sea, exploring rockpools and endless hours of snorkeling and diving! From then on, I cultivated my love for marine science, graduating from the IMBRSea programme and officially becoming a marine biologist. My passion is researching ecology of communities; because of, this I have participated to a research cruise in the North Sea, and I have been working on copepod diet, microalgae cultivation, shrimp and cod parasites. The two last studies were linked with fisheries science, which is my other main interest.
I am now a PhD student at Háskóli Íslands and working at Hafrannsóknastofnun, the Marine Institute of Iceland, under the supervision of Haseeb Randhawa, Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, and Julian Burgos. The topic of my PhD is marine fish community dynamics in Icelandic waters, and I am investigating which factors drive the distribution of fish species, how their communities will develop with current climate change and fishing pressure, and which measures can be applied to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Through this experience I plan on gaining valuable knowledge on statistics, modelling, and marine management, to become an all-round marine community ecologist.
Einar Pétur Jónsson (PhD student)
Being brought up in Iceland and spending much time by and in the sea now seems like an obvious path towards studying marine biology. My undergrad studies in marine biology were carried out in Chile, at the Pontific Catholic University of Chile, where I got to know a rich and fascinating ecosystem governed by strong oceanographic processes.
Upon coming home I started working for the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) doing shape analysis of cod otoliths, which then led me to a M.Sc. study on the cod ecotypes, their otolith shape variation and the ecological processes behind it.
I‘ve recently started my Ph.D. where I‘m employing an experimental strategy to look into multiple stressor effects on marine organisms. This is part of the MFRI‘s build-up of facilities and knowledge to do these kind of experiments where we study the effects of more than one stressor at a time, such as temperature and pH, for example.
Bylgja Síf Jónsdóttir (MSc student)
My name is Bylgja Sif, I am 28 years old and come from the small town of Hveragerði.
For the past five years I have been working for the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland. My work at the MFRI is diverse and has taught me a lot. The focus has mostly been on benthic animals, from the deep sea to the shallow fjords, all around Iceland. I have been on surveys where we document the sea bottom and its ecosystems with underwater cameras and I have participated in our yearly stock assessment surveys, both bottom trawling and gillnet fishing. In the autumn surveys we collect all the bycatch from the trawl, which is mostly benthic animals, and identify them. I have also taken part in a regrowth study of rockweed in Breiðafjörður, researched how harvesting the rockweed can affect the animals that live in and around it, and the distribution of crab species in shores around Iceland.
I have always been fascinated by the nature, especially the sea being so unreachable and mysterious. Because of that I went to the University of Iceland, finished my BSc degree in biology, and applied for a job at the MFRI. The benthos have gotten a hold on me, the species are so many and diverse. I would like to get to know them better and introduce them to others since I feel like they do not have a strong enough voice, both within the scientific community and outside of it.
Hlynur Pétursson (MSc student)
My name is Hlynur which is the Icelandic common name for the maple tree, Acer pseudoplatanus, so I should maybe have gone into botany, instead I took all the marine related courses that were available at the time. Even though I was born in Reykjavík, I was raised in the northern part of the country, in Ólafsjörður and Akureyri. Both towns relied heavily on fishing.
I finished my B.Sc. in 1998 and started working for the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute. For the first 5 years I worked as a biologist with focus on data collecting, both on land and sea, and as an age analyst on flatfish. In 2003 I transferred to Ólafsvík and became branch manager for MFRI with various duties. Mostly related to the biology of Breiðafjörður area. In 2017 I transferred to Akureyri, my hometown, and became a branch manager for that area. I am hoping that with this programme I will get a broader insight into the mechanisms of marine life and the tools to study it.
Svandís Eva Aradóttir (MSc student)
My name is Svandís Eva and I was born and raised in Akureyri where my love of nature became clear early on and after I finished high school I moved to Reykjavík to study biology at the University of Iceland. Because of my love of nature and science and being from an island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and having the initials SEA, it wasn‘t a surprise to anyone that I applied for a job at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI).
I started at MFRI as a summer student in the summer of 2016 and when I graduated with my BSc in 2017 I came back and later on became a full time employee. I‘m currently the primary age analyzer of blue whiting and capelin as well as participating in a lot of surveys. My goal was always to go back to school and do my masters, after gaining some work experience and finding the perfect project for me I realized I was finally ready to go back to school.
Guðrún Ósk Sæmunsdóttir (MSc student)
My name is Guðrún Ósk and I come from the outskirts of Reykjavík. I’ve always had a love of nature and natural sciences and as a kid I enjoyed reading science magazines and watching animal documentaries. I went on to study geophysics before realizing it was not for me and biology is where my passion lies. Now I’m about to finish the last semester of my bachelor’s degree in biology. For the past two years I’ve worked at Matís’s sustainability and aquaculture department alongside my studies. Working at their research aquaculture facility has given me the chance to learn a lot about fish and conducting scientific experiments. I’m currently writing my bachelors thesis under the supervision of Haseeb focusing on parasite communities in different ecotypes of threespine sticklebacks in Lake Thingvallavatn.
Eve-Marine Pubert (MSc student)
As far as remember, I have always wanted to be a marine biologist. After obtaining my degree in Biology at Sorbonne University in Paris, I am currently in my final year for a Master's degree in Marine Biology in Faro, Portugal. I came to Iceland to finalize my MSc thesis. Later on, I would like to work in marine conservation and protection. I realized that fisheries are a very important factor in this field. That’s why I will focus my work on understanding the stock structure of a commercial species in Iceland, the plaice. Currently, this species is considered to be a single stock that can be found in the north and south of Iceland. Thus it is very important to understand the stock structure for this commercial species in order to elaborate on sustainable fisheries. By studying the parasite diversity of the plaice of the Icelandic coast, we will be able to determine if the plaice consists of a single or multiple sub-populations in Icelandic waters. This will be the subject of my studies for my MSc thesis.
Charlotte Matthews (Research Assistant)
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest of Canada, I was inspired by its diverse coastal ecosystems, driving me to complete my Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of British Columbia. There, my research experience transitioned from intertidal invertebrates to subtidal crinoids to coastal fish communities. Following my bachelor's, I worked in various positions, including habitat mapping, outreach and monitoring illegal fishing. As I worked, my interests broadened, and I wanted to further understand how people were interconnected with the ocean and how that relates to conservation and management. This led to studying in the remote Westfjords of Iceland to complete a Master's in Coastal and Marine Management at the University Centre of the Westfjords.
For my thesis, I eventually returned to my biological roots, moving to deeper depths and studying mesopelagic fishes in Icelandic waters. Knowledge gaps for mesopelagic species and their importance to the marine ecosystem are evident. My thesis focused on gaining baseline knowledge of the distribution and biology of some common Icelandic species. Post-graduation, I am continuing to work on this project with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland and the University of Iceland to further our understanding of these understudied species.