Dr. Jana Hinners
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I am interested in the interplay between the environment and marine microorganisms, called phytoplankton. Phytoplankton represents a kind of green lung of the sea. Due to its ability to perform photosynthesis and due to its wide distribution in the ocean, phytoplankton represents an equally important oxygen producer as land plants. In addition, it plays an important role in the nutrient cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus and forms the basic food source for most life in the sea. Combining analyses of environmental samples, laboratory experiments and ecosystem modeling, I try to understand how phytoplankton changes due to climate change. In the long term, with the help of models I would like to find out what consequences changes in phytoplankton mean for the functioning of marine ecosystems.