Ecosystem processes /People /

Researchers

Anna Lintunen

ECO staff Anna Lintunen

Transport processes, freezing, embolism

My research is on tree structure and function, especially on transport processes within the tree and on the challenges these processes face in different environments. My special interest is on freezing behavior of wood.

 

Anne Ojala

Ecosystem ecology, physical limnology

  • +358 (0)294120340

  • Lahti, Niemenkatu 73, room 150

  • ORCID: 
  • More information in research database TUHAT

Chao Zhang

Chao Zhang

Remote sensing, photosynthesis,  terrestrial vegetation, climate change

I am interested in investigating terrestrial vegetation photosynthesis using remote sensing optical signals to understand how plants respond to environmental stresses and climate change. 

Elina Peltomaa

Phytoplankton ecology and nutrient, biomolecule and gas cycling

My research interests are in the microscopical-sized life forms of lakes, especially in phytoplankton, and their roles in aquatic food webs. Particularly I’m interested in mixotrophy, grazing and exudate release (e.g. volatile organic compounds, BVOC’s) which are closely related to nutrient, biomolecule and gas cycling. My previous research topics have included studies on phytoplankton community composition and primary production as well as using phytoplankton as a potential source of oil for biodiesel production.

Elisa Vainio

Elisa Halmeenmäki

Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) exchange in forests

Environmental scientist studying methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) exchange in forests. Working on tree and forest floor fluxes and their seasonality and upscaling. PhD thesis (2019) entitled "The contributions of soil, ground vegetation and trees to the methane exchange of boreal forest" focused on Hyytiälä SMEAR II site.

Francesco Minunno

My research focuses on the general areas of forest ecosystem ecology and the impacts of climate change on forests. My area of expertize is process-based modelling of forest ecosystems. I'm currently focusing on the implementation of modern computational methods for the calibration and comparison of process-based models rich in parameters. I'm striving to apply Bayesian statistics to process based models, as a method for uncertainty analysis and model comparison. In the last years I also focused my research on the topic of water stress and water stress induced tree mortality.

Jon Atherton

Jon Atherton

Passive remote sensing, modeling, vegetation dynamics, spectroscopy, photosynthesis, wildfires

Developing a model that will help to interpret passive remote sensing signals of forests. The relationship between remote sensing signals and photosynthetic efficiency is complicated and non-linear. Mechanistic models can help to explain the underlying physiological and physical causes of remote sensing observations and provide a robust platform for the use of such signals in estimating carbon fixation rates.

 

Juho Aalto

ECO staff Juho Aalto

Gas exchange, BVOCs, tree growth, measurement methodology, technical development, boreal forests

Long term measurements of tree and forest floor gas exchange, including VOCs, using online measurement methods. Understanding the dynamics, dependency on environmental controls of gas exchange, especially VOCs.

  • +358 50 415 6759
  • SMEAR II, Hyytiälä forestry field station, Hyytiäläntie 124, 35500 Korkeakoski, Finland
  • ORCID: 0000-0002-5686-1366
  • More information in research database TUHAT

Jussi Heinonsalo

Jussi Heinonsalo

Soil, carbon and nitrogen cycling, microbiology and chemistry

My major research interest is carbon cycling in forest and agricultural soils and the role of mycorrhizal fungi in belowground carbon dynamics. In addition, I am interested in the enzymes as well as other metabolites (VOC-compounds, bioactive compounds, microbial litter) produced by fungi. I use microbiological, chemical and isotopic (13C, 15N, 14C) methods in my work, and currently collaborate tightly with soil C modelers in order to incorporate novel experimental data into models for better model predictions on soil C pools. My earlier projects include studies on fungal bioremediation and biodiversity.

Kajar Köster

ECO staff Kajar Köster

Carbon dynamics in forest soils, with special interest in disturbed (fire, wind, reindeer grazing, etc.) areas

My current projects include measuring the short and long term effects of forest fires on the stability of carbon pools in boreal forests, estimating carbon turnover on disturbed forest areas and studying the carbon neutrality of reindeer management.

Lauri Lindfors

Lauri Lindfors

Effect of freezing and thawing on tree ecophysiology

  • +358 (0)294158150
  • Viikki, B building room 321
  • ORCID:
  • More information in research database TUHAT

Liisa Kulmala

Liisa Kulmala

Carbon cycle in northern ecosystems

My passion is to understand biological, biochemical and physical interactions in nature. My long-term focus has been in the uptake and release of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, and the overall carbon cycle. Most of my studies has concerned forested ecosystems but nowadays, I study urban and agricultural ecosystems as well.

Lukas Kohl

Lukas Kohl

I am an isotope biogeochemist with a background in soil and environmental chemistry. My current work focuses on understanding and distinguishing between the processes that lead to plant methane emissions. I also make, listen, and dance to music and try to spend as much time in nature as possible.

Maarit Raivonen

Gas-phase nitrogen exchange, methane emissions, wetlands

Exchange of reactive gas-phase nitrogen compounds between atmosphere and vegetation and global modelling of methane emissions from wetlands.

  • +358 (0)2 941 51658
  • Kumpula, Dynamicum room D113
  • ORCID:
  • More information in research database TUHAT

Mari Mäki

Mari Mäki

BVOC production and emissions from soil processes 

Morgane Merlin

Morgane Merlin

I am currently working as a postdoc with Dr Yann Salmon on understanding the relationships between carbon and water in phloem transport. I am broadly interested in the relationships between tree establishment, growth and survival and water. I have worked extensively with sap flow data while pursuing my PhD in Canada, working on mine reclamation sites.

 

Nuria Altimir

Nuria Altimir

Terrestrial ecology, biogeochemistry of air-land interactions, ozone deposition, ozone scavenging 

I have studied primarily ozone deposition to vegetation and the mechanisms behind the process and currently I am interested in the potential role of BVOCs and aerosol load in ozone scavenging. I am also involved in research on C and N cycling in high-mountain pastures in the Pyrenees, studying the role of plant diversity

Pauliina Schiestl-Aalto

Pauliina Schiestl-Aalto

Tree growth, carbon balance, carbon sink – source interactions

I study tree growth and different aspects of tree and forest carbon balance. My main interest is in growth modelling and I have also worked with photosynthesis modelling and carbon isotopes. I work at Hyytiälä forestry field station and am responsible of biodiversity measurements there.

Pille Mänd

ECO staff Pille Mänd

Water availability, water-use efficincy, leaf gas exchange, VOCs

My main interest concerns forests and how trees respond to changes in climate. I am interested in what are the mechanisms behind the responses of  trees to water availability and what kind of trade-off effects determine the water-use efficiency, nitrogen-use efficiency and carbon production. My current focus is on sink and source driven processes in plant physiology that affect leaf gas exchange, including volatile carbon and nitrogen compound emissions from leaves.

Syed Ashraful Alam

Syed Ashraful Alam

Climate change, Ecosystem services, Ecosystem water-balance, Plant-water relations, and Operations of Research Infrastructures

I am currently working for two environmental Research Infrastructures (RI). At eLTER RI (University of Helsinki, Finland), I am working as ‘Research Coordinator’, while at ICOS ERIC Head Office in Helsinki; I am holding ‘Operations & Networking Officer’ position. From January 2021 onwards, I will entirely focus on eLTER RI with its Preparatory Phase Project activities of preparing Cost Book, Cost Benefit Analysis and Socio-Economic Impact Analysis.

During recent post-doc work, with the auspices of University of Helsinki and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) prestigious President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI), I spent couple of years at CAS’ South China Botanical Garden and focused on tree growth and plant-water relations of boreal and sub-tropical ecosystems. My MSc and PhD theses were related to carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emission and water balance of dryland ecosystem.

 

  • +358 504489485
  • ashraful.alam [at] helsinki.fi
  • Viikki, B-building, room 326
  • ORCID: 0000-0001-9870-1494
  • More information in research database TUHAT

Terhi Rasilo

Terhi Rasilo

Carbon cycling, interactions between ecosystems

Environmental research infrastructures 

My research interests are in carbon cycling in different ecosystem and especially between them. After finishing a postdoc related to CO2 and CH4 emissions from lakes and small rivers in Canada, I'm back at the department of Forest Sciences. Now I'm working more to create conditions for research than with research itself. I am involved in the long-term ecosystem research infrastructures both at national (LTER Finland, INAR RI Ecosystems) and at international (eLTER) level.

Ville Kasurinen

Energy exchange, dissolved organic carbon, DOC production, boreal forest

I am interested in how phenology affects the processes related to energy exchange and how ecosystems differ in this respect.

In addition I model the production of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) and its transport into stream water in a boreal forest. In developing the model, I use data collected from intensively researched catchments in Finland and Sweden. I am also interested in the biogeochemical processes linked to the DOC cycle and have done reserach on the role of photochemistry in the breakdown of DOC transported by big rivers.

Yann Salmon

ECO staff Yann Salmon

Water and carbon relations in tree, tree ecophysiology and ecology

My research focus on water and carbon fluxes in trees and between trees and the atmosphere, what are the processes regulating those fluxes, how they are influenced by the environment and how this response affect the trees. In particular, I am interested in the effect of drought. Beyond the individual level, I study how tree ecophysiology and fluxes: 1) impact biogeochemical cycles in forest ecosystems, and 2) how they respond to and shape tree ecology.