Members

Kessy Abarenkov (ETIS)
Kessy Abarenkov is a bioinformatician. She completed her PhD at the University of Tartu in 2011. Kessy’s dissertation was connected to developing the PlutoF platform. She is among the world’s most cited researchers in her field. Abarenkov works at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum. Kessy is a member of the Taxonomy and Biodiversity Informatics Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Sten Anslan (ETIS)
Sten Anslan is a (soil)fauna metagenomics research fellow at the Chair of Mycology of the University of Tartu, where his work is mostly related to biodiversity metabarcoding. He completed his PhD at the University of Tartu in 2017. He was a postdoctoral researcher during the years 2018-21 at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany (project name: “Geo-ecosystems in Transition on the Tibetan Plateau”). Sten is a member of the Ecology of Biological Interactions Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Mohammad Bahram (ETIS)
Mohammad Bahram is an ecologist with a special interest in microbial biogeography, community ecology, metagenomics and biotic interactions. He completed his PhD at the University of Tartu in 2012 and has worked at the University of Tartu and Uppsala University. He currently works as an associate professor in molecular ecology at the University of Tartu and as an associate senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Niloufar Hagh Doust (ETIS)
Niloufar Hagh Doust is an ecologist with a special interest in fungal ecology, forest ecology, community ecology, plant-microbe interactions, beneficial symbionts, and environmental science. Her research mostly focuses on the ecology of plant-associated microbes (especially fungal endophytes) and their potential benefits in forestry and agriculture. She has been working as a research fellow at the Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, since 2019. Niloufar is a member of the Ecology of Biological Interactions Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Rein Drenkhan (ETIS)
Rein Drenkhan is a forest pathologist. He completed his PhD at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2011. In 2018, he received the annual prize in the field of agricultural sciences of the Republic of Estonia for his work on early detection and spread analysis of invasive dendropathogens.. Alates 2019. aastast töötab ta Eesti Maaülikoolis metsapatoloogia professorina. Ka juhib ta sealset metsapatoloogia töörühma.

Mikk Espenberg (ETIS)
Mikk Espenberg is a microbiologist whose primary research interests include environmental microbiology and bioinformatics. He is particularly interested in biogeochemical cycles, such as the carbon and nitrogen cycles, with a special focus on studying microbes involved in the production and consumption of greenhouse gases. Mikk completed his PhD at the University of Tartu in 2017. He works at the University of Tartu as an associate professor in environmental microbiology and at the University of Aberdeen as a research fellow in biological sciences. Mikk leads the Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Workgroup at the Department of Geography, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Daniel Herlemann (ETIS)
Daniel Herlemann is a microbiologist whose main focus is on microbial ecophysiology. Daniel is a professor at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. He leads the Microbial Ecophysiology Workgroup at the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Veljo Kisand (ETIS)
Veljo Kisand is a hydrobiologist whose main areas of research include diversity, distribution, ecology, physiology and phylogenesis of bacteria in aquatic environments. Veljo completed his PhD at the University of Tartu in 1998. Today, he works at the University of Tartu as an associate professor in molecular ecology, and develops a SARS-Cov-2 wastewater surveillance system with his colleagues.

Urmas Kõljalg (ETIS)
Urmas Kõljalg is a biologist, member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, professor at the University of Tartu and director of the University of Tartu National History Museum and Botanical Gardens. His main areas of research include fungal taxonomy and phylogenetics, mycorrhiza and biodiversity informatics. He is among the world’s most cited researchers in his field. Urmas leads the Taxonomy and Biodiversity Informatics Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Kaire Loit (ETIS)
Kaire Loit is a phytopathologist. Her main interests include plant pathology in agriculture and creation of sustainable farming systems. Kaire is defending her dissertation at the Estonian University of Life sciences in 2021. She currently works as a senior specialist at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Kaire is a member of the Phytopathology Workgroup at the Chair of Plant Health of the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Kristiina Mark (ETIS)
Kristiina Mark is a lichenologist. Her main area of research is molecular systematics of lichenized fungi. Kristiina completed her PhD at Tartu Ülikool in 2016. She now works as a research fellow at the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Kristel Panksep (ETIS)
Kristel Panksep is a hydrobiologist. Her main areas of research include toxic cyanobacteria and their role in aquatic food webs, the effect of natural and anthropogenic pressures on aquatic environments, (e)DNA-based biodiversity monitoring of environments, development of eDNA-based methods for early detection of alien species, and SARS-Cov-2 wastewater surveillance. She coordinates the global fungal diversity project “FunAqua”. Kristel is a PhD candidate and chief specialist at the Chair of Hydrobiology and Fishery of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, and works as a molecular diagnostics specialist at the Institute of Technology of the University of Tartu.

Kadri Põldmaa (ETIS)
Kadri Põldmaa is a mycologist. Kadri completed her PhD at the University of Tartu in 1998. She was a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania during 1999-2000 and at the Estonian Biocentre during 2002-2003. She now works as an associate professor of mycology at the University of Tartu. Kadri is a member of the Taxonomy and Biodiversity Informatics Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Sergei Põlme(ETIS)
Sergei Põlme is a biologist. His main areas of research include mutualistic relationships between fungi and plants. Sergei completed his PhD at the University of Tartu in 2013. He currently works as a senior specialist of zoosystematics at the University of Tartu.

Kadri Runnel (ETIS)
Kadri Runnel is a conservation biologist. Her main interests include conservation biology (especially conservation in human-influenced ecosystems, forest ecology, biodiversity research methodology, and ecology and taxonomy of wood decomposing fungi. Kadri completed her PhD at the University of Tartu in 2016. She currently works as a conservation biology research fellow at the University of Tartu.

Sirje Sildever (ETIS)
Sirje Sildever is a marine ecologist. Her main research interests include phytoplankton analysis by optical microscopy and environmental DNA, identification and analysis of resting stages of phytoplankton, growth experiments and population genetics. Sirje completed her PhD at Tallinn University of Technology in 2017. She currently works at the marine ecology laboratory of Tallinn University of Technology as a research fellow and is a member of the Environmental DNA and Phytoplankton Workgroup.

Liina Soonvald (ETIS)
Liina Soonvald is a phytopathologist. Her main area of research is agricultural microecology. Liina is a doctoral candidate at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, where she currently works as a chief specialist of phytopathology. Liina is a member of the Phytopathology Workgroup at the Chair of Plant Health of the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Ave Suija (ETIS)
Ave Suija is a lichenologist. She completed her PhD at the University of Tartu in 2004 and currently works at the university as an associate professor in lichenology and curator of fungal collections. Ave’s research interests include taxonomy and phylogeny of lichenicolous fungi. Ave is a member of the Taxonomy and Biodiversity Informatics Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Leho Tedersoo (ETIS)
Leho Tedersoo is a mycologist and soil ecologist. His areas of interest include global biodiversity of mycorrhizal fungi, molecular soil ecology and biogeography of fungi. He is among the world’s most cited researchers in his field. Leho is a member of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences. Leho leads the Ecology of Biological Interactions Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.

Olesia Dulia (ETIS)

Olesya Dulya is an ecologist with a special interest in different aspects of biodiversity, the principles of biotic community assembly and response to human activity. Her primary focus is on studying microbial communities in soil and dead wood. Currently, she is engaged in a large-scale research project that utilizes metagenomics to investigate the functional diversity of soil organisms. Olesya holds the position of a research fellow in the Ecology of Biological Interactions Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu. .

Vladimir Mikryukov (ETIS)

Vladimir Mikryukov is a molecular ecologist with special interests in ecological genetics, biodiversity, and metagenomics. He earned his Ph.D. by studying the phylogeography and population genetics of lichen symbionts, and later explored bacterial and fungal community dynamics, as well as their roles in forest ecosystem stability. As a bioinformatician and biostatistician, he investigated the effect of long-term disturbances on the phylogenetic diversity of various biological communities. Currently, his research focuses on the factors driving the global distribution of microbial functional diversity in soil, using metagenome sequencing. Vladimir is a research fellow in the Ecology of Biological Interactions Workgroup at the Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu.

Iryna Yatsiuk (ETIS)

Iryna Yatsiuk is a mycologist, myxomycetologist. Her research focuses on the phylogeny, taxonomy, ecology, and biodiversity of myxomycetes. Currently, Iryna is pursuing her PhD at the Department of Botany within the Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the University of Tartu.