Swedish-American deep-sea biologist and Teaching Fellow in Marine Biology at the University of Portsmouth.
Passing on my knowledge of marine ecology is a central part of what I do. This comes in the form of devising and presenting lecture and class content for undergraduate and postgraduate students, helping to run field courses, project coursework and laboratory practicals. A key aspect of the Teaching Fellowship will be to advance the pedagogy of marine biology i.e. to innovate in the teaching of this broad and increasingly important realm of life.
In my research I have used primarily genetic tools to learn how deep-sea fauna have evolved across a range of habitats and how their populations persist in this little-explored realm. The deep sea, which furnishes us with food, helps sequester atmospheric carbon and buffers our climate, faces the encroachment of human activity. By understanding better how deep-sea ecosystems function, deep-sea ecologists hope to inform conservation and resource management strategies and to ensure the health of this hidden world for future generations.
In 2010 I was fortunate to co-discover the Hoff Crab (a new form of Yeti Crab) at hydrothermal vents in the Southern Ocean, living some 2,500m below the surface. This spurred me to investigate the evolutionary history of the Hoff Crab and its closest species, revealing the way that these unique animals may have been impacted by past climate fluctuations. These charismatic animals continue to capture the public imagination and highlight awareness of deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the threats they face.
I work hard to promote the awareness of marine science by communicating my research and those of colleagues directly to journalists and writers and through radio, television, social media and various outreach events.
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/nicolai-roterman
For more information about my research output:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher_Roterman
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=8a_e0h8AAAAJ
