Nina Pohl
PhD student
nina.pohl{at}ebc.uu.se

Since the Bachelor’s program in biology, which I finished in 2020 at the University of Cologne (Germany), I’ve been fascinated by the diversity of protists. Thus I decided to work with amoebae and their potential role as vectors for pathogenic bacteria in my bachelor thesis. I continued with the Master’s program in Biological sciences in Cologne but came to Uppsala to finish my thesis. Here I sequenced the genomes of the bacterial endosymbionts of the amoebae I worked with during my bachelor thesis.

After the master, I stayed in Uppsala and started my Ph.D. project in January of 2023. In this project, I will characterize the diversity of non-photosynthetic flagellates within the supergroup Archaeplastida, which comprises a diversity of photosynthetic organisms like land plants and different algae. By studying cells for example from the phylum Picozoa, which is closely related to red algae, we hope to shed light on the origins of plastids in this group.
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When I’m not studying the biology of amoebae or flagellates, I play various instruments for example saxophone in the Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra. I also enjoy cooking and hiking or biking around in nature.