Meet the team

Team members

Katja Mäkinen Senior researcher, Title of docent, PhD

Key focus:
Project PI,
Coordinating monitoring efforts,
Research on reproductive biology, herring physiology, lipids etc.

Aarne Lauerma MSc student, Project worker 2026

Thesis topic:
Maternal thyroid hormones, egg and larval traits

Max Tallberg Doctoral researcher, MSc

Thesis topic: Mapping Baltic herring natal origins, migration routes, and population structure using otolith elemental composition and genetic analyses

Laura Lammi Project researcher 2026

MSc thesis topic:
The impact of environmental factors on the reproduction of Baltic herring males from the 1990s to the present.

Mikko Kaasinen MSc student, research assistant 2026

Thesis topic: Mapping the genetic diversity of Baltic herring populations by spawning area in the Bothnian Bay, Archipelago Sea, and southern Baltic Sea regions.

Tuuli Gustafsson Research assistant 2026

BSc thesis topic: Comparison of age determination of Baltic herring using scales and otoliths

Nea Lindsten Research assistant 2026
Jari Hänninen Docent, PhD

Key focus:
Pelagic ecosystem dynamics,
Time-series analyses

Päivi Laine PhD, visiting researcher

Key focus:
Ecological aspects of spawning areas and
population dynamics,
Reproductive biology

Previous team members

  • Saara Miinala, MSc
  • Marjut Rajasilta, Docent, PhD
  • Johannes Sahlstén, MSc
  • Jan Eklund, MSc
  • Mikael Elfving, MSc
  • Ilppo Vuorinen, Prof.
  • Petri Vahteri, MSc
  • Juha Kääriä, PhD
  • Kari Ranta-aho, MSc

In addition numerous summer interns, students, and short-term project researchers  have supported our work over the years.