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Gabriel Charvalakis

Image by Gabriel Charvalakis

About Gabriel

Workpackage

3.4

Position

PhD

Started

March 2022

Works at

Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and University of Groningen

Supervision Team
  • Prof. dr. Roelof Hut
  • dr. ir. Kamiel Spoelstra
Email

g.charvalakis@nioo.knaw.nl

Description of project

Light at night has been increasing worldwide for decades, and simultaneously insect populations are declining rapidly. Light pollution may be a large contributor to this effect, which is why I will research many aspects of light in my project. Insects are very important components for healthy ecosystems; they pollinate plants, and serve as food for larger animal species. Therefore we need to protect them further.

I aim to link the behaviors of insects in response to light at night, with their corresponding sensory ecology. Specifically, I will be looking at how light characteristics such as light intensity and spectrum affect insect behavior and circadian rhythms. By utilizing light emitting diode (LED) technology we can carefully tune light characteristics (wavelength/intensity) and potentially mitigate the impact of light pollution on insects!

Read Gabriel’s personal introduction here.

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The BioClock Consortium is funded by the NWA-ORC programme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO; project number 1292.19.077).