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\r\n\tMarjo Maidell, PTT<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tMy name is Marjo Maidell and I work as a forest economist at PTT. I\u2019ve worked in different parts of the forest sector during the last 10 years, both in public and private sector. MARES has been an exciting jump to marine sciences and I\u2019ve been involved in reporting, organization of workshops and development and testing of the geo-portal.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat are you currently working on?<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tMy work time is split between several projects, ensuring that my tasks vary, and days are never alike. In MARES, my next tasks involve reporting and drafting a manuscript on the purpose, implementation and further development of the geo-portal. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat drives you in what you do?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tIn forest sciences I\u2019m most interested in bridging economics and environmental sciences to improve the sustainable management of natural resources. These same topics also apply to marine sciences. Ways to support this are countless of course but currently I\u2019m keen to study more how GIS-based solutions could bring innovative tools for spreading information and balancing the use and conservation of natural resources.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tName one achievement in your career you are most proud of?<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tTypically, I\u2019m most proud of the work done, either by me or my team, when I see it benefits others and results are taken to use to improve processes in practice. It doesn\u2019t matter whether the improvement takes place in a small-scale company or international politics, as long as I can support the way forward.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tPaula Horne, PTT<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI am Paula Horne, a Finnish nature-enthusiast, an economist and a research director at Pellervo Economic Research PTT. While typically my free time and work is spent on terrestrial environment and issues, I embrace any change to scuba-dive as my hobby or dive deeper into the academic questions of marine ecosystem services. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>In MARES I work on the valuation of ecosystem services, learning a lot from the collaboration with our colleagues of natural sciences. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat are you currently working on?<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tAs a research director my time is divided between administrative work and research. In MARES we are now preparing a report of valuation methods and contributing to a manuscript on Baltic Sea ecosystem services. Naturally, I am looking forward to the international MARES workshop in<\/b> Suomenlinna<\/b> in mid-February. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat drives you in what you do?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tEnvironmental economics and valuation particularly seemed as a natural choice, given my interest in nature but also in people\u2019s behaviour. Microeconomic choice theory aims at understanding human behaviour with regard to decision making. Better informed decision-making regarding ecosystem services would benefit both nature and the humankind. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tName one achievement in your career you are most proud of? <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI participated in the first steps of the Finnish voluntary biodiversity programme METSO, in which I am still involved every now and then. I even have a METSO site in my own land. METSO is a great example of Finnish collaboration and good will, and I am happy and proud that we have it. It shows that voluntary mechanisms can take you a long way in safeguarding ecosystem services. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tMelanie\u00a0Heckwolf, GEOMAR\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI am a Postdoc in the Marine Evolutionary Ecology group at<\/span><\/span><\/span> GEOMAR (Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel) in Germany. Within the MARES project, I am part of the team that conducts a literature survey on the current knowledge on ecosystem services in the Baltic Sea. <\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat are you currently working on?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tIn particular, we are interested in finding out which ecosystem services are provided by seagrass meadows, macroalgal forests and mussel beds. Together we scanned 3,089 papers, from which we extracted 20 known ecosystem services that are provided by these target ecosystems. <\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t \r\n\t\tOur efforts revealed that the knowledge on the species in ecology is plentiful, while the knowledge transfer into socio-economic disciplines and the monetary evaluation of these services is close to non-existent. Researches and policy makers will have to make an effort to close this gap to ultimately promote evidence-based decision-making for sustainable ecosystem management. <\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat drives you in what you do?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI became part of this project because I am convinced that interdisciplinary approaches like those within the MARES project can help to protect the Baltic Sea ecosystems for a more sustainable future.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tAnneliis Peterson, EMI<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI\u2019m a Junior Research Fellow in marine biology in the Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu. Just a couple of months ago I defended my PhD thesis on benthic habitats, species and species richness distribution mapping. Nowadays I am also involved in other research topics, including ecosystem services, macroalgae cultivation perspectives in the Baltic Sea and cumulative anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>In BONUS MARES I\u2019m involved in the work package 2 that deals with a meta-analysis of ecosystem services.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat are you currently working on?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tIn the BONUS MARES project, I performed together with the project colleagues a structured meta-analysis of various scientific studies on ecosystem services provided by macroalgae, seagrass meadows and mussel beds in the Baltic Sea. We registered a huge knowledge gap in the quantification and mapping of most ecosystem services as well as in the applicability of valuation methods. Right now, we are composing a manuscript from the main results of the meta-analysis that will hopefully be published in 2020. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat drives you in what you do?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI have always loved sea and nature, and thereby the decision to choose biology and more precisely marine biology was made quite easily. For me, it is interesting to learn every day something new and to see and study the complex connections between different ecosystem components. I hope that we can manage our marine nature in a sustainable way and all species that are here right now can also be found in the future. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tName one achievement in your career you are most proud of?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tAs I just defended my PhD a couple of months ago, I would say that this is by now one of my biggest achievements.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tThorsten Reusch\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tMarine Ecologist and evolutionary biologist, GEOMAR<\/strong><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\t \r\n\t\tI am a marine ecologist and evolutionary biologist working as full professor at GEOMAR,<\/strong> the major ocean institute in Germany, located in Kiel at the Baltic Sea shore. <\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t \r\n\t\tTogether with colleagues, I am\u00a0coordinating Work Package 2 of the MARES project dealing with a \u201cReview of Ecosystem Services\u201d.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhat are you currently working on?<\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tI am generally very interested in how global change plays out in the Baltic and how this endangers the many ecosystem services provided by Baltic Sea ecosystems. My favorite system are seagrass beds that have recently come into the focus as possibly very important carbon sinks. Our conceptual framework is that the Baltic Sea allows us a \u201csneak preview\u201d on other coastal ocean areas since many anthropogenic pressures already have reached a severity that is only predicted for the distant future in other world areas.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t \r\n\t\tWithin MARES, along with postdoctoral researcher Melanie Heckwolf<\/strong>, we are performing a meta-analysis of all studies dealing with ecosystem services in the Baltic Sea provided by our target ecosystems; macroalgal beds, seagrass meadows and mussel banks. I can tell you already that we found very few studies that thoroughly evaluated ecosystems services and even fewer trying to quantify particular services, so the knowledge gap is large.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tWhy did you choose this line of work \u2013 what drives you, what interests you, what do you aspire to achieve?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tThe ocean at our doorstep provides so many open questions that it became one of my research foci. During my career I also find it more and more important to communicate with the public and with stakeholders, and here the questions come from the vicinity of our institute, not from places far away.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t \r\n\t\tYet at the same time, our results are significant for example for the South China Sea as the pressures such as eutrophication and overfishing are the same, yet the management regime in the Baltic is actually quite advanced and allows for an effective management in a multi-national context, provided that the political will is there. My intention is to provide the scientific basis for fact-based management.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tName one achievement in your career you are most proud of?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\tOne significant contribution to the field was the experimental demonstration that in seagrass beds with zero redundancy at the species level (i.e. the meadows for example in the Baltic are usually mono-specific) genotypic diversity replaces at species biodiversity.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t \r\n\t\tThis is significant for conservation, as it provides arguments for protecting genetic diversity. This also unifies biological science, as we have identified common principles as to how diversity, both at the within-species and species level, enhances ecosystem resilience.<\/span>\r\n\t<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\u00a0\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tMarine biologist <\/span>Jonne Kotta<\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\tEstonian Marine Institute (EMI \/ UTARTU)<\/b><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\t \r\n\t\t\r\n\t
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