Aquatic ecosystems are critical to Earth’s cycles of carbon and nitrogen and to Earth’s biodiversity, and consequently, they are essential to human health and welfare. Currently, aquatic ecosystems are facing a range of profound challenges that are substantially affecting their structure and function. These include climate change, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation and invasive species. Understanding the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and their ecological role is central in order to secure a sustainable future for the systems themselves as well as for humans.
At the Department of Biology, we study the responses of aquatic organisms to environmental factors, species interactions in communities, biodiversity patterns, and nutrient and energy flow through aquatic ecosystems. Our work includes ecosystems from tropical to polar with a particular focus on Arctic ecosystems. In our research, we combine field studies, laboratory experiments and mathematical modelling, and the research is often multidisciplinary, combining biology with physics, chemistry, engineering and geoscience. Through our research we generate fundamental knowledge and apply this knowledge to preserve and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems, and to advice stakeholders and politicians in their decision-making.
With my background in Biology, PhD in Global Development, and postdoc in Human Geography, l am trying to combine the best of different field to specialize in Environmental Justice and sustainability.
I am eager to explore creative and engaging approaches via inter- and transdisciplinary research collaborations and innovative students, from landscape design experiments and photography-based studies to body-mapping of nature relations, and Citizen Science.
Currently, l am steering a research project in South Africa with partners from University of Pretoria and private and public partner. We focus on collaborative, locally-anchored Green Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions as a strategy to address great challenges surrounding biodiversity, inequity, water and waste in green spaces of deprived urban areas. The project includes co-development and onsite testing of landscape designs and ecological restoration with and in local communities.
In parallel, I am part of the SustainScapes research center and the Biodiverse Cities partnership, where I supervise a PhD project, in which we will assess user perceptions through co-created landscape visualizations (maps, models and physical installations) in Vilhelmsborg, Aarhus, in close collaboration with Aarhus Municipality.
Tightly connected to my research, I coordinate and teach a course in Global Change Biology. I see teaching as a privilege and passion, and an opportunity to integrate mutual learning with student-driven studies (see Pasgaard 2017).
See further detail on this profile page or do not hesitate to reach out for more information.
My passion is the natural history of life on Earth. I have combined this passion with the development of novel molecular tools to study biodiversity in a new way, and in order to work with what I love.
My research interests are mainly within molecular ecology with a focus on the applications of DNA from environmental samples (environmental DNA - eDNA) using high-throughput DNA sequencing. In my research group, we address fundamental and applied research questions within ecology and conservation. We are working with both species, community and population level analyses, mostly on animal eDNA but also comprehensive eDNA analyses using a tree-of-life approach. I also work with topics such as evolution, ecology and conservation.
What I do:
https://scholar.google.dk/citations?user=ZklvBfQAAAAJ&hl=en
Why I do it:
https://www.instagram.com/francis_in_the_field/
