Team

The Blue Growth Research Lab is jointly headed by Prof. Jana Asselman and Prof. Colin Janssen. All PhD students are supervised in collaboration with other research groups to ensure that they can work in a highly multidisciplinary research environment and have access to a wide network of senior research expertise. 

Jana Asselman

Professor

Prof. Dr. eng. Jana Asselman is appointed as a research professor at the UGent campus at Ostend Science Park. There, she coordinates multidisciplinary Marine@UGent research facilities. Her research interests include marine biotechnology and biodiscovery, molecular and in vitro toxicology and broad human and environmental health challenges associated with the blue economy. For a more comprehensive view of her research interest and expertise, please visit the research page or her publications.

Colin Janssen

Professor

Prof. Dr. Janssen is full professor of Ecotoxicology and Applied Marine Ecology. He is chair of the Marine@UGent consortium and is promotor of the UGent Industry Research Fund IOF consortium BLUeGhent. His research is focused on ecological risks of anthropogenic and natural stressors in freshwater and marine systems including aspects of evolutionary ecology, ecological risk assessment modelling/procedures. For a more comprehensive view of his research interest and expertise, please visit the research page or his publications.

Senior Researchers

Eveline Diopere

Postdoc

Biotechnology - Molecular Biology

Sara Vandamme

Postdoc

Sustainability - Ecology

Ilias Semmouri

Postdoc

Marine Ecology - Seaweed - Biomolecules

Vicky Pauwelyn

Postdoc

Lab Coordinator

Maaike Vercauteren

Postdoc

Plastic pollution - Environmental & human health

Junior Researchers

Dries Lorre

Phd student

Ecosystem services - Sustainable use

Iene Herman

Phd student

Marine Copepods - Epigenetics - Ecology

Marie Sioen

Phd student

Nanoplastics - ecological risk assessment

Silke Lambert

Phd student

Plastic Biofilms

Zixia Liu

Phd student

Sea spray aerosols - Biological & chemical composition

Friedel Dewulf

Phd student

Marine Toxines - Immunology

João Barbossa

Phd student

Sea dumped munition - Risk assessment

Miao Peng

Phd student

Microplastics - in vitro human toxicology

Ting Zang

Phd student

Microplastics & Human Health

Guillaume Marec

Phd student

Biodiscovery - Marine Microalgae

Lotte Janssens

Phd student

Marine Copepods - Epigenetics - Ecology

Selamawit Gebremedhin Tekle

Phd student

Microplastics Pollution - Human Health

Wenxin Liu

Phd student

Marine Toxins & Human Health

Joint PhD students at other institutions

Guilherme Jeremias

Phd student

UAVR: Epigenetic biomarkers

Naina Goel

Phd student

KU Leuven: Cyanbacterial stress - epigenetics & gut microbiome

Jenevieve Hara

Phd student

UAntwerp: Nanoplastics - marine biota

Yunmeng Li

Phd student

VLIZ - UAntwerp: Marine microorganisms & human health

Mathilde Falcou Préfol

Phd student

UAntwerp: Nanoplastics - Hazard Assessment

Zhiyue Niu

Phd student

VLIZ - UGent: Microplastics & multiple stressors