Rafał Boehnke
Address:
Marine Ecology Department
Laboratory Functioning of the Pelagic Biocenosis
Institute of Oceanology
PolishAcademy of Science
Powst. Warszawy St. 55
81-712 SOPOT
POLAND
Phone:
+58 7311780
Email:
rafalb@iopan.gda.pl
Date of birth: 13.12.1984
Educational records:
• 2003 – 2009: M.Sc. - Oceanography and Geography Faculty of the University of
Gdansk; M.Sc. thesis title: “Epibionts and parasites on massively – occurring Copepoda
inhabitating the Gulf of Gdansk”
• 2009 – present: Ph.D. studies at the Institute of Oceanology PAS, Sopot, Poland
Department of Marine Ecology; preliminary title of Ph.D. thesis: Zooplankton as a
food source for Little Auks in different hydrological regimes of Svalbard fiords
Main scientific interests:
 ecology and taxonomy of Arctic zooplankton,
 copepods parasites
Experience records:
•
R/V Oceania Arctic cruise, Spitsbergen, June - August 2008 (AREX, fjords);
•
R/V Oceanograf 2, Gulf of Gdansk Zooplankton Monitoring cruises of Institute of
Oceanography, University of Gdansk - Oceanograf 2, 2006 – 2007;
•
Fluent analysis of Arctic zooplankton samples from different regions and depths within
Polish Albert project and several Norwegian projects (e.g., MariClim, KongHau,
UniPlankton, ALKEKONGE);
•
Two weeks training (16.04-27.04.2012) at Zoological Museum, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark, within the project DK-TAF-2152 (Biodiversity of deep-water
copepods from Spitsbergen area) SYNTHESYS: the European Union-funded Integrated
Activities grant.
On-going projects:
 2008-2011 – ”Response of marine and terrestrial ecosystems to climate changes in Arctic
– links between physical environment, biodiversity of zooplankton and seabird
populations” (ALKEKONGE) – Polish-Norwegian Research Fund PNRF - 234 - A I 1/07 (investigator of zooplankton task);
 2009-2011 - The KongsfjordHausgarten transect case study: Impact of climate on Arctic
marine community structures and food webs (KongHau) (DPN/DWM/AD/5348/08/09;
13.03.2009), Polish Ministry of Education and Science project linked to the Norwegian
project KongHau (project investigator);
 2013-2014 – Seasonality of Arctic plankton community of Isfjorden (UniPlankton),
Polish Ministry of Education and Science project linked to the Norwegian projects
CLEOPATRA II, MicroFun, MeroSeason and CircA (project investigator);
 2014-2017 – Is size so crucial? Complex examination of plankton size structure in the
warming European Arctic (PicMac), Polish Ministry of Education and Science project
(project investigator).
Conference presentations:
 Preliminary zooplankton results from Smeerenburgfjorden (summer 2008), Kick-off
meeting ALKEKONGE, Sopot, Poland, 18-19.02.2009 (oral presentation)
 Zooplankton composition at Little Auks’ feeding grounds – a case study from
Magdalenefjorden and Smeerenburgfjorden (NW Spitsbergen) in 2007-2009, Arctic
Frontiers 2010 Living In High North 24-29.01.2010, Tromso, Norway (poster)
 The role of deep water zooplankters in feeding ecology of Little Auks – the matter of
quality, 12th Deep - sea Biology Symposium 7-11.06.2010, Reykjavik, Iceland (poster)
 Zooplankton composition at Little Auks’ foraging grounds - a case study from
Magdalenefjorden and Smeerenburgfjorden (NW Spitsbergen) in 2007-2009, 13th ISBE
Congress 26.09 – 01.10.2010, Perth, Australia (poster)
 Alternative diet of little auks as an adaptation to changing climate in the Arctic, Arctic
Frontiers 2011, Arctic Tipping Points 23-28.01.2011, Tromso, Norway (poster)

Is climate warming modifying little auk’s chicks diet? A case study from NW
Spitsbergen (Magdalenefjorden, European Arctic), World Conference on Marine
Biodiversity 26-30.09.2011, Aberdeen United Kingdom
 The latitudinal gradient of key Arctic zooplankters distribution and its significance for
ecosystem functioning., Ocean Sciences Meeting 23-28.02.2014, Honolulu, United States
of America
Publications:
Stempniewicz L., Darecki M., Trudnowska E., Błachowiak-Samołyk K., Boehnke R., Jakubas
D., Keslinka-Nawrot L., Kidawa D., Sagan S., Wojczulanis-Jakubas K. (2013) Visual prey
availability and distribution of foraging little auks (Alle alle) in the shelf waters of West
Spitsbergen. Polar Biology, 36: 949-955
Trudnowska E., Szczucka J., Hoppe L., Boehnke R., Hop H., Błachowiak-Samolyk K. (2012)
Multidimensional zooplankton observations on the northern West Spitsbergen Shelf. Journal of
Marine Systems, 98: 18-25
Jakubas D., Głuchowska M., Wojczulanis-Jakubas K., Karnovsky N. J., Keslinka L., Kidawa D.,
Walkusz W., Boehnke R., Cisek M., Kwaśniewski S., Stempniewicz L. (2011) Different
foraging effort does not influence body condition and stress level in little auks. MarineEcology
Progress Series, 432: 277–290