https://www.oceanexpert.org/expert/AlexandraPeltekis

PhD

Research

Biological Oceanography, Marine Ecology

I am a biologist with a great interest in the study of the physiology, ecology and the biodiversity of marine phytoplankton. 
During my MSc at Sorbonne University and Phd thesis at the Laboratory of Chloroplast Biology and Light Detection in Microalgae, in Paris, France, i studied allelopathic interactions between phytoplankton species. I developed and validated a new method to investigate photosynthesis of microalgae in mixtures, in order to detect and dissect, quickly and in vivo, any allelopathic interaction targeting the photosynthetic apparatus of competing microalgae. 
I am currently a Post Doc researcher in marine biology at Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Crete, Greece,
My first Post-doc research focused in studding the dynamics, structure and biodiversity of phytoplankton communities in the Cretan Oligotrophic Sea, based on a time series dataset of phytoplankton microscopy observations obtained during the past 12 years.I participated in the implementation of this dataset by analyzing a large part of the phytoplankton samples using the Utermöhl inverted light microscopical method (Utermöhl 1958), which allowed me to specialize in the identification and taxonomy of diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophores of Cretan sea aera.
I am currently starting a second Post-doc that will be part of the research program NABUCCO (New chlorophyll-a concentration retrieving algorithm based on fiducial reference measurements of ocean colour). It will focuse on the laboratory analysis of seawater samples from optical measurement stations to be taken during oceanographic research expeditions, using liquid chromatography (HPLC) and fluorescence methods. These are the most accurate methods for calculating in situ chlorophyll concentrations in seawater and are therefore essential for validating Chl-a retrievals from satellite data. This work will enrich the NABUCCO marine optics database.

Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin

 I have gained experience in phytoplankton identification and taxonomy, photosynthesis measurement, phytoplankton sampling, culture and secondary metabolites isolation techniques and phytoplankton monitoring (chlorophyll-a measurement). I also participated in mesocosms experiments which took place at HCMR in Crete, Greece (in May/June 2022 and June 2023).

GREEK
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ResearchGate