Philipp Assmy

Current activities

Species-specific studies of planktonic and sympagic communities and primary productivity in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard. Studying the impact of changing sea ice conditions and associated effects (e.g. changes in light climate and surface stratification) on phytoplankton and ice algal communities.

Career

Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway

January 2011 - present

Postdoctoral scientist

Funded by the Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE) at the Norwegian Polar Institute

Bremen International Graduate School for Marine Sciences "Global Change in the Marine Realm" (GLOMAR), Bremen, Germany

April 2007 - December 2010

Associate scientist

Excellence Initiative by the German federal and state governments

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

Postdoctoral scientist

January 2007 - April 2007

EU-funded project "CARBOOCEAN"

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

Postdoctoral scientist

January 2004 - January 2007

Education:

University of Bremen, Marine Biology department, Bremen, Germany

PhD in Biological Oceanography, June 2004

University of Bremen, Marine Biology department, Bremen, Germany

MSc in Marine Biology, January 1999

University of Rostock, Biology department, Rostock, Germany and University of Bremen, Biology department, Bremen, Germany

BSc in Biology, April 1996

Areas of interest and expertise

Field-based and experimental work in polar areas. Plankton ecology and taxonomy with a main emphasis on phytoplankton and particular diatoms. The role of iron on Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystems. Evolutionary ecology and the role of defence in phytoplankton.

A trait-based approach in plankton ecology. A mechanistic understanding of the functioning of planktonic and sympagic (sea ice) communities. Phytoplankton community response to natural (e.g. changes in sea ice cover and light climate) and artificial (e.g. iron fertilization) pertubations. Species interactions in the plankton and trophic cascades. Linking biogeochemistry (the carbon and silicon cycle) with plankton ecology. Marine primary productivity.

The Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard.

References/Bibliography

Peer-reviewed publications:

LIGOWSKI, R., JORDAN, R.W. AND ASSMY, P. (2012). Morphological adaptation of a planktonic diatom to growth in Antarctic sea ice. Marine Biology, 159, 817-827.

GEIBERT, W., ASSMY, P., BAKKER, D. C. E., HANFLAND, C., HOPPEMA, M., PICHEVIN, L., SCHRÖDER, M., SCHWARZ, J. N., STIMAC, I., USBECK, R. AND WEBB, A. (2010). High primary productivity in an ice melting hotspot at the eastern Weddell Gyre Boundary. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 24 GB3007, doi:10.1029/2009GB003657 .

GAEBLER-SCHWARZ, S., DAVIDSON, A., ASSMY, P., CHEN, J., HENJES, J., MONTRESOR, M., ZINGONE, A. AND MEDLIN, L.K. (2010). New insights into the cell cycle of the colony-forming haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica and its ecological implications. Journal of Phycology 46(5), 1006-1016.

MICHELS, J., DIECKMANN, G.S., THOMAS, D.N., SCHNACK-SCHIEL, S.B., KRELL, A., ASSMY, P., KENNEDY, H., PAPADIMITRIOU, S. AND CISEWSKI, B. (2008). Short-term biogenic particle flux under late spring sea ice in the western Weddell Sea, Deep-Sea Research II, 55, 1024-1039.

ASSMY, P., HERNANDEZ BECERRIL, D. U. AND MONTRESOR, M. (2008). Morphological variability and life cycle traits of the type species of the diatom genus Chaetoceros, C. dichaeta. Journal of Phycology, 44, 152-163.

ASSMY, P. (2008). 2nd Neogene Polar Marine Diatom Workshop, 4-10th August 2007, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA or alternatively mutual learning between a plankton ecologist and micropalaeontologists. Diatom Research, 23, 263-265.

ASSMY, P., HENJES, J., KLAAS, C., SMETACEK, V. (2007). Mechanisms determining species dominance in a phytoplankton bloom induced by the iron fertilization experiment EisenEx in the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I, 54, 340-362.

HENJES, J., ASSMY, P., KLAAS, C., SMETACEK, V. (2007). Response of microzooplankton (protists and small copepods) to an iron-induced phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Ocean (EisenEx). Deep-Sea Research I, 54, 363-384.

HENJES J, ASSMY P., KLAAS C AND SMETACEK V (2007). Response of the larger protozooplankton to an iron induced phytoplankton bloom in the Polar Frontal Zone of the Southern Ocean (EisenEx). Deep-Sea Research I, 54, 774-791.

CROOT, P. L., PASSOW, U., ASSMY, P., JANSEN, S., STRASS, V. H. (2007). Surface active substances in the upper water column during a Southern Ocean Iron Fertilization Experiment (EIFEX), Geophysical Research Letters, 34, doi:10.1029/2006GL028080.

HOFFMANN, L. J., PEEKEN, I., LOCHTE, K., ASSMY, P., VELDHUIS, M. (2006). Different reactions of Southern Ocean phytoplankton size classes to iron fertilization. Limnology and oceanography, 51(3), 1217-1229.

ASSMY, P., HENJES, J., SMETACEK, V., MONTRESOR, M. (2006). Auxospore formation by the silica-sinking, oceanic diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE), Journal of Phycology, 42, 1002-1006.

DE BAAR, H. J. W., BOYD, P. W., COALE, K. H., LANDRY, M. R., TSUDA, A., ASSMY, P., BAKKER, D. C. E., BOZEC, Y., BARBER, R. T., BRZEZINSKI, M. A., BUESSELER, K. O., BOYE, M., CROOT, P. L., GERVAIS, F., GORBUNOV, M. Y., HARRISON, P. J., HISCOCK, W. T., LAAN, P., LANCELOT, C., LAW, C. S., LEVASSEUR, M., MARCHETTI, A., MILLERO, F. J., NISHIOKA, J., NOJIRI, Y., OIJEN, T., RIEBESELL, U., RIJKENBERG, M. J. A., SAITO, H., TAKEDA, S., TIMMERMANS, K. R., VELDHUIS, M. J. W., WAITE, A. M., WONG, C. -S. (2005). Synthesis of iron fertilization experiments: From the Iron Age in the Age of Enlightenment, Journal of geophysical research, 110. doi: 10.1029/2004JC002601.

SMETACEK V., ASSMY P., HENJES J. (2004). The role of grazing in structuring Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystem and biogeochemical cycles, Antarctic Science, 16 (4), pp. 541-558.

Book chapters:

ASSMY, P. AND SMETACEK, V. (2009). Algal blooms, In: Encyclopedia of Microbiology, (Moselio Schaechter, Editor), Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 27-41.

ASSMY, P., LOCHTE, K. AND SMETACEK, V. (2009). Plankton productivity and the role of iron in the Southern Ocean. In: Biological studies in polar oceans – exploration of life in icy waters. 35 research reports and reviews, Gotthilf and Irmtraut Hempel (Editors), Wirtschaftsverlag NW, Verlag für neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven, 227-235.

NÖTHIG, E.-M., ASSMY, P., KLAAS, C. AND SCHAREK R. (2009). Phyto- and protozooplankton in polar waters. In: Biological studies in polar oceans – exploration of life in icy waters. 35 research reports and reviews, Gotthilf and Irmtraut Hempel (Editors), Wirtschaftsverlag NW, Verlag für neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven, 65-73.

Theses:

PhD thesis (2004): Temporal development and vertical distribution of major components of the plankton assemblage during an iron fertilization experiment in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone (EisenEx).

MSc thesis (1999): The diatom spring bloom in the North Sea (1998): The effect of organic acids on the dissolution of biogenic silica.

Reviewer activities:

Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Biogeosciences, Deep-Sea Research I and II, Estuaries and Coasts, Journal of Marine Systems, Journal of Plankton Research, Limnology and Oceanography, Polar Biology, Nature Climate Science and two funding agencies

Teaching activities:

Lectures for the Bremen International Graduate School for Marine Sciences (GLOMAR)

Lectures for the European Graduate College in Marine Sciences (ECOLMAS)

Lectures for the International Max Planck Research School of Marine Microbiology (MarMic)

Annual course on eukaryotic protists „An introduction to plankton ecology” at the University of Bremen, lectures and practical courses (Course identification number: 02-M21-2-502)

Phytoplankton lecture during the NEBROC (Netherlands Bremen Oceanography Cooperation) course “Introductory Course in Marine Sciences Part II: Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate”.

Lectures on “Principles of Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography” at the University of Bremen (Course identification number: 02-M21-1-100)

Two week course on “Biological oceanography in the framework of earth system science” at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India (14 – 25 January, 2008), lectures and practical courses