Helena Korpelainen, Ph.D., Docent
Department of
Applied Biology
P.O. Box 27 (Latokartanonkaari 7)
University of
Helsinki
Finland
Phone: +358-9-19158383
Mobile: +358-50-5415613
Fax: +358-9-19158727
Email: helena.korpelainen at helsinki.fi
Teaching areas
Population genetics, quantitative genetics, plant breeding, conservation genetics and molecular evolution.
Research interests
Our projects are targeted at population and conservation genetics, molecular ecology and dispersal studies. We aim to discover the role of selection in the maintenance of adaptive variation, to test the relative importance of phenotypic plasticity and contemporary evolution in plants exposed to changing environments and in invasive plants spreading to new areas, to develop faster and more cost-effective methods to identify and analyze genes involved in specific, adaptive characteristics, and to develop prognostic tools to monitor plant populations. We examine populations from both natural and urban habitats. The plant taxa investigated in our studies include several species of bryophytes, algae, water weeds, date palm, Saintpaulia and Saxifraga. In addition, we develop DNA barcodes for plants occurring in Finland.
Project information
Identification and population genetic analysis of stress-responsive genes in natural plant systems
Diversity of plants in urban ecosystems
Molecular ecological and population genetic projects
Saintpaulia information: The Finnish Saintpaulia Society