Dr. Boris Theofanis Karatsolis
EUTOPIA Post-doctoral fellow 2023-2025, now Assistant Professor at University of Fribourg,
Former teammembers
After two years (2023-2025) as a MSCA post-doctoral researcher at AMGC with Prof. Philippe Claeys, Boris is now assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Research:
I am a geologist and paleoclimatologist specializing in micropaleontology. Throughout my academic journey, I studied extant calcareous nannoplankton and nannofossil assemblages, focusing on low-latitude areas. For my PhD, I conducted research on sediments from the NW Australian shelf, as well as other locations drilled by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and its predecessor programs (DSDP, ODP). My primary focus was on understanding late Neogene coccolithophore paleoproductivity and species distribution changes considering their potential paleoclimatic drivers. Furthermore, I was intrigued by a period of elevated paleoproductivity known as the late Miocene-early Pliocene biogenic bloom and the possible role that Earth’s orbital configuration played on terminating it. I will now continue my academic journey as a postdoctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, working under the supervision of Professor Philippe Claeys on an exciting project called PlanktonPro. This project will explore the astronomical pacing and abrupt changes in phytoplankton paleoproductivity during the last 10 million years of Earth's history. Additionally, it will contribute to our understanding of high-latitude paleoproductivity, by investigating recently recovered sediments from the North Atlantic (IODP Exp 395).
Education
- PhD in Historical Geology and Paleontology, Uppsala University, Sweden
- MSc in Oceanography, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- BSc in Geology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece