About us

Our research focuses on the responses of freshwater organisms and their adaptive ability to the effects of anthropogenic impacts on lentic freshwater ecosystems. It spans various levels of biological organization and complexity, includes molecular, analytical and conceptual approaches, and covers laboratory, mesocosm as well as field experiments.

Jana Isanta-Navarro

I am a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Freshwater Ecology at the University of Copenhagen. I am most fascinated by the interplay of ecological and evolutionary processes in lake ecosystems. Especially the lower part of the food chain, from nutrients via phytoplankton to zooplankton is in the focus of my research. With my research, I want to contribute to our understanding of some of the challenges our freshwater ecosystems are facing, now and in the future.
Scientific Career
October 2023 - Present
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Freshwater Ecology
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2022 - 2023
Postdoctoral Researcher
Evolutionary Ecology, Lund University, Sweden
Advisor: Tobias Uller & Charlie Cornwallis
2020 - 2022
Postdoctoral Researcher
Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, USA
Advisor: James J. Elser
2019
Visiting PhD student
Dorset Environmental Science Center, Ontario, Canada
Advisor: Shelley Arnott
2017 - 2020
PhD student
Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Germany
Supervisor: Dominik Martin-Creuzburg
Studies
2014 - 2016
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Munich Graduate School for Evolution, Ecology and Systematics
Master of Science
Master thesis at Seeon Limnological Station (Herwig Stibor & Maria Stockenreiter)
2011 - 2014
Bielefeld University
Environmental Sciences
Bachelor of Science

The team

PhD Students:

Claudia Lassen

I hold a Bachelor and Master degree in Biology from the University of Copenhagen and specialised in ecology throughout my studies. I am generally interested in freshwater and marine ecology, and botany, but especially phytoplankton. I really like phytoplankton! For my PhD research I will assess changes in key-ecological traits that not only impact the fitness of phytoplankton itself but are also of nutritional importance to higher trophic levels. For that, I will experimentally examine ecological and evolutionary changes of more than 40 different phytoplankton species to several environmental gradients. I look forward to getting the first data, as I really enjoy data visualisation and statistics.

Master Students:

Michele Ferrari

I’m a master student from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, currently writing my thesis at KU, in the EnvEuro program. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of Lausanne. In my Master thesis project, I will explore cyanobacterial blooming and their toxicity in Lake Lugano (CH). Through remote sensing technology, nutrient dynamics and environmental factors, I will try to assess the spatial and temporal extent of these events.
Michele is co-supervised by Emma Izquierdo-Verdiguier (BOKU, Austria) and Camilla Capelli (SUPSI, Switzerland).