Dr. Jana Hinners

I study the interaction between marine microorganisms, the phytoplankton, and the environment. Phytoplankton represents the food base for most ocean life and the driver of the biological pump, which transports carbon from the sea surface to the ocean interior. Specifically, I characterize phytoplankton functional traits and their adaptation to different environmental conditions using experiments and observations. I use the resulting data to refine the description of phytoplankton in ecosystem models. By closely linking experiments, observations and modeling, I aim to understand how phytoplankton deal with environmental changes and what consequences arise for the functioning of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical processes like the biological carbon pump.

The PHYTOARK project, led by Dr. Anke Kremp (IOW), investigates phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea over the last ca. 10000 years. Within the project, changes in phytoplankton biodiversity and possible adaptations to changing environmental conditions are investigated. I am working together with Isabell Hochfeld (University of Hamburg) to analyze the adaptation of phytoplankton to environmental changes using an ecosystem model.

Within the PIER Klima und Küste Seed funds, Dr. Luisa Listmann (University of Hamburg) and I want to investigate the influence of viruses on the Baltic Sea phytoplankton and find out how much biomass of the phytoplankton is killed or consumed by viruses and zooplankton, respectively.