RESEARCH GROUP
Division of Microbial Ecology
Updated: November 2025
Contact
Group members
- Stefan Bertilsson
- Jennifer Anderson
- Rafael Augusto
- Claudia Bergin
- Lauren Davies
- Zahra Goodarzi
- Vesna Grujcic
- Charlotta Hagstrom
- Jay Hakansson
- Maliheh Mehrshad
- Malin Olofsson
- Fernando Puente Sanchez
- Manuela Seehauser
- Attila Szabo
- Anna Szekely
- Javier Vargas
- Ziming Wang
- Mate Vass
- Ingrid Rydhammer Asp
- Sofia M Larsson
- Sarah Coker
- Anna Sofia Persson
- Moritz Buck
- Mia Bengtsson
- Ana Cekol
- Mariana Kluge
- Theresa Lumpi
- Nhat Ton Nguyen
- Ricardo Parizotto Ribeiro
- Bella Safitri
- Vinicius Silva Kavagutti
- Merjan Kosucu
- Fanny Persson
- Filip Petrini
- Klas Udekwu
- Konstantinos Kleidonaris
Related research projects
- Fish farming in the North
- ARAMIS - Adaptive Radiation of Aquatic MIcrobial Species
- Dispersal barriers and functional convergence in aquatic microorganisms
- Microbiome monitoring for risk assessment in recirculating aquaculture systems
- Causes and consequences of prokaryotic intra-species diversification at the global scale
- DISCOMIX: Dissemination of antimicrobial resistance by community mixing events
- BIOFUN: Climate-induced changes in the biodiversity and function of Arctic/alpine streams and their landscapes
- Beyond "Everywhere": Disentangling Dispersal Constraints of Aquatic Planktonic Diversity
At the Division of Microbial Ecology we study ecology and diversity of microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems.
We share a passion for understanding the diversity, metabolism, and ecology of microbial ecosystem engineers. The group use methods such as environmental genomics, biogeochemical assays for field studies and experiments to address an array of interlinked questions on functional ecology, diversity, and microbial evolution. Our focus is on aquatic ecosystems, but the research also covers bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes, and viruses in a wide range of ecosystems.
Division members
Principal investigators:
- Assoc. Prof. Anna Szekely, Researcher, Head of Division
- Dr. Attila Szabo, Researcher
- Assoc. Dr. Fernando Puente Sanchez, Researcher
- Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Anderson, Researcher
- Assoc. Prof. Maliheh Mehrshad, University Lecturer
- Assoc. Prof. Malin Olofsson, Researcher
- Dr. Máté Vass, Researcher
- Prof. Stefan Bertilsson, University Professor
Researchers, postdocs, environmental assessment specialists
- Dr. Klas Udekwu, Researcher
- Dr. Mariana Kluge, Researcher
- Dr. Moritz Buck, Researcher
- Dr. Sofia Persson, Researcher
- Dr. Theresa Lumpi, Environmental Assessment Specialist
- Dr. Vesna Grujcic, Researcher
- Dr. Vinicius Silva Kavagutti, Researcher
- Dr. Ziming Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher
Technical staff
- Ana Cekol, Laboratory Assistant
- Dr. Claudia Bergin, Research Engineer
- Fanny Persson, Research Assistant
- Filip Petrini, Research Assistant
- Ingrid Rydhammer Asp, Research Assistant
- Dr. Javier Vargas, Research Engineer
- Rafael Augusto, Research Assistant
- Dr. Sarah Coker, ‘Mighty’, Research Engineer
PhD students
- Bella Safitri
- Charlotta Hagström
- Lauren Davies
- Jay Hakansson
- Manuela Seehauser
- Merjan Koşucu
- Nhat Ton Nguyen
- Ricardo Parizotto Ribeiro
- Sofia M Larsson
- Zahra Goodarzi
Students, guests and interns
- Ailin Rasaie, Guest PhD student
- Alma Sandqvist, BSc student
- Dr. Katarzyna Zaremba Niedzwiedzka, Research Intern
- Konstantinos Kleidonaris, Research Intern
- Dr. Mia Bengtsson, August T Larsson Guest Researcher
- Polina Vaulina, MSc student