Henriikka Kivilä

Postdoc

The Arctic is changing at an alarming rate, including for example increasing air temperature, changes in precipitation and mass losses in the cryosphere. These climate-triggered changes cascading further into the biogeochemistry and fragile ecology of the Arctic aquatic systems are my broad scientific interest. In my postdoc project I focus on transfer of organic carbon in the aquatic network and it’s effects on freshwater ecology in the highly connected and lake-rich tundra environment in the surroundings of Cambridge Bay (Victoria Island, NU). My work involves both water biogeochemistry and sedimentary methods.

In addition to the Arctic, I also work with boreal winter limnology at Lake Simoncouche. There I am particularly interested in the fine scale temporal and vertical changes in organic matter quantity, quality and biolability for both dissolved and particulate organic matter over the ice-covered season.

My main expertise areas are Arctic paleolimnology, paleoecology and biogeochemistry, including stable isotope methods, chironomid analysis, algal pigments, spectral analyses and fatty acids. These and other methods help me to disentangle aquatic responses to long-term environmental change (such as climate change). I’m always up for new ventures and curious to learn more within and across disciplines! 

I have a PhD degree in Aquatic sciences from University of Jyväskylä, Finland, where I conducted research on allochthonous effects on northern lakes combining neo- and paleolimnological methods. I obtained my MSci degree in Geology from university of Helsinki, Finland, and completed my paleolimnological MSci project at University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, as a collaborative project.