The GEcoKelp Team
GEcoKelp brings together an interdisciplinary team of research scientists including ecologists, geneticists, and computer modelers, from multiple institutions, countries and backgrounds to investigate climate change and anthropogenic stressor impacts on kelp forest ecosystems.
Prof. Thomas Wernberg
Project Lead
Senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. and Professor of Marine Botany at UWA. Thomas's primary research interests are ecological interactions in temperate seaweed-dominated habitats including kelp forests and the impact of environmental change on these ecosystems.
Dr. Karen Filbee-Dexter
WP Lead
Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research and Australian Research Council Future Fellow at UWA’s School of Biological Sciences, Karen is a marine ecologist studying the drivers and patterns of long-term change in coastal ecosystems. Her expertise centers on carbon cycling by kelp forests and restoration approaches.
Dr. Kjell Magnus Norderhaug
WP Lead
Kjell Magnus is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research who specializes in the monitoring of coastal ecosystems in Norway, with a particular focus on trophic interactions within kelp forests.
Prof. Morten Pedersen
WP Lead
Morten is a Professor at Roskilde University in Denmark. His main research areas are comparative studies of ecophysiology and population dynamics in marine macroalgae and seagrasses with a special emphasis on stress biology, kelp forest ecology and regime shifts/alternative stable states.
Prof. Halvor Knutsen
WP Lead
Senior researcher at Norway's Institute of Marine Research and Professor at the University of Agder. Halvor's research uses genetic markers in combination with other types of data (e.g. oceanography, bathymetry, labeling data) to study spatial population structure and connectivity in marine organisms.
Prof. Melinda Coleman
WP Co-Lead
Principal Research Scientist with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) NSW at the National Marine Science Centre. Melinda's research centres on connectivity and population genetics of habitat forming seaweeds, with a focus
on implications for conservation.
Dr. Karine Gagnon
WP Co-Lead
Karine's research centers on the the ecology and restoration of coastal ecosystems, particularly seagrass meadows and macroalgal beds and involves a combination of field and aquarium approaches. She is based at the Norway's Institute of Marine Research.
Dr. George Wood
Researcher
Industry Early Career Australian Research Council Fellow at Flinders University and Adjunct Research Fellow at UWA, George is an expert in marine ecology and genomics and has a particular interest in developing and applying novel techniques to transform the way we understand, conserve and manage marine ecosystems under climate change.
Dr. Per Erik Jorde
Researcher
A senior researcher at Norway's Institute of Marine Research, Per Erik's research involves applying molecular genetic techniques to characterize biological populations.
Dr. Hannah Earp
Post Doc Researcher
Hannah joined Norway's Institute of Marine Research from Newcastle University. Her research interests are the structure of kelp forest ecosystems and how they are changing in response to climate and human stressors, alongside developing/testing restoration techniques.
Dr. Antoine Minne
Post Doc Researcher
Antoine joins the team from the Wernberg Lab at UWA,. His research focuses on signs of climate change adaptation in kelp forests at the genetic level, alongside fundamental population genomics questions.
Dr. Sophie Corrigan
Post Doc Researcher
Sophie is a researcher on the PROTEUS project based at Norway's Institute of Marine Research, however she will also be involved in GEcoKelp activities. Sophie joined the team from the Natural History Museum (London) and has a background in seaweed and invertebrate taxonomy, and seaweed and shellfish aquaculture.
Tone Kroglund
Senior Technician
Tone is a senior research technician at Norway's Institute of Marine Research. Tone specializes in the cultivation of seaweeds (including kelp) and their microscopic life stages. She has also been involved in kelp restoration using the Green Gravel technique.
Grace Edwards
Visiting PhD Student
Grace, a PhD student at UWA will visit Norway's Institute of Marine Research field station in Flødevigen in autumn 2024 to investigate the nutrient uptake dynamics of Norwegian kelp under different light and temperature conditions.
Jón Tomas Magnússon
Visiting PhD Student
Jón joined the GEcoKelp team on their adventure to Iceland in April '25. He will soon be commencing his PhD at UWA that will focus on kelp associated biodiversity and how it is influenced by disturbances both in Australia and Scandinavia. We are looking forward to welcoming Jón to Flødevigen soon.
Rowen Monks
MSc Student
Based at the University of Oslo, Rowen's research investigated the genetic structure and connectivity of kelp along the Norwegian coast. Since completing her MSc, Rowen has embarked on a PhD at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences - Soil and Water department
Sina Marie Torgrimsen
MSc Student
Sina is based at the University of Bergen and will join the GEcoKelp team in September '25 to undertake her MSc thesis research. She will use our new experimental hotplates to investigate the influence of temperature on Norwegian kelp early life stages / kelp grazers.
Antonia Kutke
MSc Student
Antonia was based at the University of Agder and investigated the short-term physiological effects of ocean warming and coastal darkening on the kelp forests in Norway. After completing her thesis, Antonia has continued to work in science communication at Lindesnes Lighthouse.
Emma Brette Mortensen
MSc Student
Emma is a master student from Roskilde University in Denmark. Emma joined the team for their trips to Porsangerfjord and Svalbard in August '25. On these trips she collected samples of kelp-associated biodiversity for her thesis.
Gökcen Canbolat
MSc Student
Gökcen is a student on the International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources (IMBRSea) program who will join the team in January '26. Her thesis will focus on habitat cascades with a specific focus on Ascophyllum nodosum.
GEcoKelp Advisory Board
A project advisory board composed of researchers with complimentary expertise will provide an outside perspective on the project. and will collaborate with the GEcoKelp team to extend the projects outcomes beyond Norway.
Dr. Eva Ramirez-Llodra
Science Director - REV Ocean
Eva is passionate about ocean sustainability and has over two decades of experience as a benthic marine ecologist where she has worked on topics including biodiversity, early life-history processes, and the connectivity of deep-sea benthic ecosystems. She is currently based at REV Ocean.
Dr. Mads Thomsen
Associate Professor - University of Canterbury
As an ecologist at the University of Canterbury, Mads investigates the impact of human stressors, such as bio-invasions, pollution, and climate change, on the structure, productivity and biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. He combines experiments, surveys, analysis of long-term dataset, modeling and meta-analysis, to test how patterns in biological communities are generated and maintained.
Dr. Marte Sodeland
Senior Adviser - University of Agder
Marte is a senior advisor and researcher at the Centre for Coastal Research, a collaboration between UiA, Norway's Institute for Marine Research and NIVA. Her research interests include genome architecture as a driver/constraint in evolutionary processes, alongside molecular methods for characterizing within- and between species biodiversity.