People
Dr. Marjolein Bruijning
Marjolein is an evolutionary ecologist, with broad interests in host-microbe interactions, life history evolution and population ecology. Her research integrates theory with empirical research. See here for a full CV.
Contact: m.bruijning@uva.nl
Julia van Duijn
MSc. project
Julia studies local adaptation to the combined impact of multiple pesticides (2,4-D, thiabendazole and chlorpyrifos) in Daphnia magna. She conducts toxicity experiments, comparing genetic linages from two different field populations with contrasting pesticide exposure. By measuring various fitness components (survival, fecundity and growth), Julia aims to measure the amount of standing variation in pesticide responses across the life cycle, and quantify the adaptive potential of natural Daphnia populations to chemical pollution.
Mi Nguyen
BSc. project
Mi Nguyen joins AMIS from February until May to conduct her bachelor thesis research. She investigates associations between microbiome composition (characterized with 16s rRNA sequencing) and various life history traits in Daphnia magna, as well as their temperature-dependency. For this, she uses water fleas collected in the field and cultures them under different laboratory conditions. The aim of this project is to explore relationships between host-associated microbiomes and host performance.
Jens van der Linden
BSc. project
Jens van der Linden conducts his bachelor internship at AMIS, studying trans-generational plastic responses to temperature in Daphnia magna. This research project compares trans-generational responses across different field and laboratory lineages, exposing adult Daphnia to temperature stress and measuring offspring performance. With this, Jens tests for between-population differences in trans-generational plasticity and measure any costs of accclimation.