Impact of Sea Ice melting in the microbial foodweb in the northern Baltic Sea

Global warming trends are having worse impacts in the northern latitudes with sea ice now rarely forming in the northern Baltic Sea. Impact of warming temperatures in the microbial foodweb is largely unknown. This thesis topic will be done in collaboration with Prof. Jorma Kuparinen, Biology Dept., University of Helsinki, Finland. It will involve a 3-4 month stay in Finland for field-sampling where student room and board will be available at very reduced costs. Training in phytoplankton identification will be acquired in Finland. Primary and bacterial production will also be done there. Bacterio- and nanoplankton counting and biomass determination will be done in the Marine Microbiology laboratory at Universidade do Algarve under H. Galvão´s supervision.