Information om forskning och undervisning

I am a visiting researcher in the Ecosystems and environment research programme. I earlier worked as a university lecturer and led the Terrestrial interactions research group at the University of Helsinki, but since April 2021 I have been a senior researcher and worked as a manager for the Carbon cycle management group at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

I am interested in how plants and soil decomposers control each other, how herbivores modify this interaction and how all these interactions together govern nitrogen and carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. My main interests also include the responses of tree growth and greenhouse gas emissions to the warming climate in northern ecosystems. My study systems range from agricultural fields and grasslands to boreal forests and Arctic tundra. I have supervised the work of three doctoral candidates, each related to plant-soil interactions in grassland ecosystems, and currently supervise two candidates, who study the effects of increasing temperatures on Subarctic vegetation and invertebrate communities.

Meritförteckning

I have long experience in both research and teaching. Before the current appointment as a senior researcher at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), I worked as a university lecturer at the University of Helsinki, as an assistant professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and as a postdoctoral researcher at Landcare Research, New Zealand. I have published 74 refereed articles in international science journals and for years 2009-2016, I was a subject editor in Plant and Soil. My research projects have been funded by the Academy of Finland and the EU, the total received funding being around 1.3 million euros.

Short CV / May 2021

CONTACT INFORMATION  /  Department of Bioeconomy and Environment, Carbon cycle management, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland / [email protected] / +358503082364

EDUCATION  /  2016, UniLead 3, UH Official Leadership Program completed, University of Helsinki / 2003, Adjunct Professor (Dosentti) in Community and Ecosystem Ecology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland / 1998, Doctor of Philosophy, Ecology and Environmental Management, University of Jyväskylä / 1993, Master of Science, Ecology and Animal Systematics, University of Turku, Finland

MAIN PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS  /  2021 onwards, Senior Researcher, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) / 2006-2021, University Lecturer, University of Helsinki / 2005-2006, Assistant Professor, University of Jyväskylä / 2001-2005, Postdoctoral Researcher, appointed by the Academy of Finland / 1998-1999, Postdoctoral Researcher, Landcare Research, New Zealand

RESEARCH FUNDING  /  Total sum of acquired external funding 1.3 million EUR / Academy of Finland 2015-2018, “Towards more efficient Arctic research using dominant Betula species, spectromics and genomics” 290 312 EUR / Academy of Finland 2008-2012, “Genetic basis of nitrogen cycling in birch forest” 398 880 € / EU Research Training Network 2004-2008, “Biotic interactions in the rhizosphere as structuring forces for plant communities” 189 211 EUR / EU Thematic Network 2003-2007, “Conservation of soil organism diversity under global change” 39 540 EUR / Academy of Finland 2001-2005, “Linking belowground food webs, plants and aboveground herbivores in grassland” 346 400 EUR

RESEARCH PERFORMANCE  /  h-index 24 in Web of Science, 34 in Google Scholar / 74 peer-reviewed articles in international science journals and book compilations

SUPERVISED DOCTORAL THESES  /  Eero Myrsky, ongoing, University of Helsinki / Sinikka Robinson, ongoing, University of Helsinki / Louise Sørensen, 2009, University of Oulu / Stéphane Saj, 2008, University of Helsinki / Katja Ilmarinen, 2006, University of Jyväskylä

DUTIES AS SCIENTIFIC EXPERT  /  Subject editor in Plant and Soil, 2008-2015 / Member of the Administrative Council, Päijät-Häme Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finland, 2020- / Member of the expert committee, Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation, Finland, 2014-2016 / Opponent or external reviewer for 7 PhD theses, 2007-2019 / Reviews for 30 scientific journals, including American Naturalist, Ecological Monographs, Ecology, Ecology Letters and Trends in Ecology and Evolution

TEACHING EXPERIENCE  /  Occupied in a teaching position for 2005-2021 / Supervisor for 19 Master's theses / Teaching competence rated as “excellent” for a University Lecturer position in Ecology, University of Turku, 2013, and for a University Lecturer position in Plant Biology, University of Helsinki, 2012

ADMINISTRATION ACTIVIES  /  Director of DENVI, Doctoral Programme in Interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences, 2018-2021 / Member of board in YEB, Doctoral School in Environmental, Food and Biological Sciences 2018-2021