EXPERTISE
Profile
Sonja Kistenich has been part of NIVA's Oceanography Section since 2019. She is an experienced marine biologist and botanist with an education from the University of Rostock, Germany, and a PhD from the University of Oslo. Over the past ten years, she has developed significant expertise in the taxonomy of various organism groups, with a particular focus on marine microalgae. Additionally, she has acquired detailed knowledge of various molecular DNA analysis methods and data handling.
At NIVA, Kistenich works with microscopic analyses of marine phytoplankton samples, linked to several major monitoring programs such as ØKOKYST and Ytre Oslofjord. She also analyzes water samples for toxic algae among others for the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's shellfish warning program. Furthermore, she has participated in several projects using environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect indicator species in freshwater as well as biodiversity screening in coastal waters. Kistenich also has experience as a project leader and project coordinator from several projects, including the Norwegian Environment Agency's coastal monitoring program ØKOKYST Barentshavet. She also works with R coding for data management and visualization.
At NIVA, Kistenich works with microscopic analyses of marine phytoplankton samples, linked to several major monitoring programs such as ØKOKYST and Ytre Oslofjord. She also analyzes water samples for toxic algae among others for the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's shellfish warning program. Furthermore, she has participated in several projects using environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect indicator species in freshwater as well as biodiversity screening in coastal waters. Kistenich also has experience as a project leader and project coordinator from several projects, including the Norwegian Environment Agency's coastal monitoring program ØKOKYST Barentshavet. She also works with R coding for data management and visualization.