Dyphavsbiologi

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:

2021 - 2026 UiB Centre for Deep-Sea Research (CDeepSea) - Funding: Trond Mohn Foundation

2021 - 2025 DeepSeaQuence; Uncovering the metabolic secrets and capacity of Arctic deep-sea hydrothermal vent microbiomes. Funding: Research Council of Norway. P.I: R. Stokke.

2021 - 2024 Eco-Safe Ridge Mining: environmental risk studies towards sustainable deep-sea mining on the Mid-Ocean Ridge in Norway. Funding: Research Council of Norway. P.I: P. A. Ribeiro.

2021 - 2024 Life at the limits: diversity, adaptation strategies and bioprospecting of microbes living in Arctic deep sea habitats (IN-DEPTH, https://twitter.com/Project_INDEPTH), Funding: EEA-Norway grant. P.I UIB: I. H. Steen

2020 - 2023 Vent & Seep Fauna in Norwegian Waters. Funding: Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (Artsdatabanken). P.I: Mari Heggernes Eilertsen.

PROJECT COLLABORATORS:

2021 - 2023 RAS-TOOLS: A microbial toolbox for RAS production and innovation. Funding: NordForsk, Research Council of Norway. P.I. H. Dahle.

2019-2023 HyPOD: Hydrothermal Production of Organic molecules: carbon transformation and Decomposition in ocean crust fluids. Frinatek, P.I: E. Reeves

Master projects (ongoing and completed) 

2025-2026 

Karoline Oksnes Austnes  
Resolving biochemical properties of proteases of hydrothermal vent microorganisms 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-supervisor: Hasan Arsin  

Hanna Sannes 
Defining inactive and extinct hydrothermal vents on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge 
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 
Co-supervisor: Eoghan Reeves 

Anja Bang 
Classification of megabenthic communities on a deep seamount on the Mohn’s Ridge 
Main supervisor: Heidi Meyer 
Co-supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro, Rebecca Ross, Rosalyn Fredriksen  

Zofia Maurer 
Diversity of marine bristle worms (Annelida) within Isfjorden (Svalbard) 
Main supervisor: Nataliya Budaeva 
Co-supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 

Master projects 2024 – 2025 

Kristoffer F. Nilsen 
Diversity, distribution and habitat specificity of Ophryotrocha from chemosynthesis-based ecosystems 
Main supervisor: Mari H. Eilertsen 
Co-supervisors: Nataliya Budaeva and Jon A. Kongsrud 

Noemí Segura-Solé 
Thesis title: Syntrophic Interactions Between Anaerobic Methanotrophic Archaea and Sulfate Reducing Bacteria in Arctic Vents 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-Supervisors: Petra Hribovšek, Runar Stokke 

Emilie Werness 
Thesis title: Enrichment of a new species of sulfate-reducing bacteria from the Loki´s Castle hydrothermal vent field 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-Supervisors: Petra Hribovšek, Runar Stokke 

Guro Ødegårdstuen 
Thesis title: Structure-Based Discovery of Putative Novel Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Chitinases 
Main supervisor: Runar Stokke 
Co-Supervisors: Hasan Arsın, Ida Helene Steen 

Audun Aass Roseth 
Characterisation of epibenthic community structure on the DeepInsight seamount, Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge 
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 
Co-supervisors: Irina Zhulay, Mari H. Eilertsen 

2023-2024  

Amalie Johannessen 
The fauna of Ægir vent field 
Main supervisor: Mari H. Eilertsen 
Co-supervisor: Jon A. Kongsrud  

Anna Tomine R. Sørensen 
Revisiting the fauna of the Jan Mayen vent fields 
Main supervisor: Mari H. Eilertsen 
Co-supervisor: Jon A. Kongsrud  

Ramsha Iqbal 
Heterologous production, purification and substrate usage of a variant of the marine globupain protease 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-supervisors: Runar Stokke, Anita-Elin Fedøy, Hasan Arsin, Victoria Røyseth  

Ivan Patrick Tualla 
IMBRSea Master student - Identification, expression, and biochemical characterization of plastic-degrading enzymes from extremophilic bacteria at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges (AMOR) deep-sea hydrothermal vents 
Main supervisor: Runar Stokke 
Co-Supervisors: Katharina Sass and Ida Helene Steen  

Emilie Kristine Nygaard 
Identification, production and characterization of novel marine enzymes 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-supervisors:  

Hedvig Villmark 
Evaluating Survival and Relative Abundance of Bacterial Species in an In-vitro Model of Fecal Commensals 
Main supervisor: Anders Schouw 
Co-Supervisors: Runar Stokke, Kurt Hanevik  

Hallvard Johan Jacobsen 
Characterization of the novel strain Pseudodesulfovibrio. sp. ægir 
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen 
Co-supervisors: Runar Stokke, Anders Schouw  

Liem Dominic Østrådt-Jennings 
Assessing the efficiency of low-impact methods for benthic biodiversity surveys in the Arctic deep sea 
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 
Co-Supervisors: Irina Zhulay, Jon Thomassen Hestetun (NORCE), Miriam Isabelle Brandt (NORCE) 

Master projects (2022 -2023):

Siri Charlotte Haugerud Rognan
Plastic degrading potential of Arctic deep-sea hydrothermal microbiomes
Main supervisor: Runar Stokke
Co-Supervisors: Katharina Sass and Ida Helene Steen

Christiana Naana Sam
Recombinant expression and biochemical characterization of cysteine proteases from Arctic deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
Main supervisor: Ida Helene Steen
Co-Supervisors: Hasan Arsın, Victoria Røyseth, Runar Stokke and Anita-Elin Fedøy
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Marte Leane Bleken Klemetsdal 
Fauna of cold seeps in the Arctic 
Main supervisor: Mari Heggernes Eilertsen 
Co-supervisors: Jon A. Kongsrud (UMB), Giuliana Panieri (UiT/CAGE)  

Marte Syvderud
Trophic ecology of hydrothermal vent fauna on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro
Co-supervisor: Furu Mienis (NIOZ)

Sofie Gjærlow
Characterisation of megabenthic community structure at the Fåvne hydrothermal vent field,and implications for environmental management of seabed mining
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro
Co-supervisor: Steinar Sanni (UiS)

Haakon Arthur Pedersen (NTNU) 
VentFish: Diversity and trophic ecology of fish at hydrothermal vents on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge 
Main supervisor: Torkild bakken (NTNU)
Co-supervisors: Mari Heggernes Eilertsen, Nicolas Straube (UMB)

Fereshteh Hemmateenejad
Diversity, structure and environmental drivers of benthic epifaunal communities on Arctic cold seeps based on seafloor image analysis
ERASMUS+ Joint Master's Programme
Main supervisor: Alessandra Savini (U. Milano Bicocca)
Co-supervisors: Pedro Ribeiro (UiB), Giuliana Panieri (UiT), Luca Fallati (U. Milano Bicocca 

Erik Lund-Tønnesen 
Characterization of Benthic Megafauna Community Structure at One Newly Discovered Hydrothermally Active Site on Mohn’s Treasure, Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, Employing Image Analysis 
Supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 

2020-2021 

Sondre Olai Spjeld 
Metagenomics-based discovery of novel carbohydrate degrading enzymes from deep-sea hydrothermal in situ enrichments; expression, purification and characterization 
Main supervisor: Runar Stokke 
Co-supervisors: Ida Helene Steen 

Ida Marie Hamstad 
Identification of benthic communities at the Loki’s Castle hydrothermal vent field using a photo-mosaic. 
Main supervisor: Pedro Ribeiro 
Co-supervisors: Mari H. Eilertsen, Thibaut Barreyre