A warm welcome to postdoc Ioannis Tsakalakis who joins Joe Vallino’s MBL CBIOMES Group this month.
Ioannis will use trait- and thermodynamic-based modeling approaches to study patterns of phytoplankton diversity in the global ocean and their feedback on ecosystem functioning. “I am particularly interested in using simplified versions of ocean models, so-called idealized models, in order to study specific hypotheses and identify key processes that govern large-scale ecological patterns,” Ioannis says.
Ioannis comes to MBL from the University of Oldenburg, Germany where he worked with Alexey Ryabov and Bernd Blasius on PhD research focused on resource competition among major phytoplankton functional groups and the effects of spatial and temporal variations of resources on species composition and diversity. “One of my main interests is in the role of the diel light cycle for sustaining phytoplankton diversity, and how important the two periodic light cycles, i.e. seasonal and diel, are for explaining species biogeography and diversity in the global ocean,” he explains.
Story image: A bit of a musician, Ioannis likes trying to play different musical instruments, with the ukulele being his current favorite. He also describes himself as a great fan of American billiards (he owns his own cue and plays in tournaments) and says he is looking forward to being able to compete and (self-deprecatingly) “lose from natives of the game :D.”
Ioannis’ Links