THM (Tim) Wijgerde PhD MSc

Within Marine Animal Ecology, my research focuses on the ecophysiology of reef-building corals. Using experimental microcosms, we study how corals respond to rapid climate change and water pollution such as sunscreens and eutrophication. I am also interested in how corals can shift their physiology from autotrophic (i.e. relying on their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates) to heterotrophic feeding (i.e. feeding on plankton). Recently, I have tested how oxygen microsensors can be used to study the physiology of coral larvae, giving us a better understanding of how corals cope with stress during this delicate early life stage. We also successfully tracked the swimming behaviour of larvae using a state-of-the-art camera system, providing new insights into how corals select their settlement substrate.

I supervise one PhD student (Robbert-Jan Geertsma) and several MSc or BSc students per year. I also manage three laboratories at the Aquatic Research Facility Carus, where we grow our own corals and hatch sharks and rays for research.

My publications can be found https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=3P8dB6EAAAAJ