by Sofia Paraskevopoulou
On May 2, 2024, Protistology Nordics came to life in Lund, Sweden, bringing together 35 researchers from across the Nordic region to celebrate and advance the study of protists—our fascinating and often-overlooked microbial eukaryotes. Hosted in the historic setting of Kulturen, the conference offered a full day of cutting-edge science, collaboration, and inspiration.
The program opened with Mahwash Jamy (SLU), who highlighted the power of long-read sequencing in unraveling protist diversity and evolution. She was followed by Micah Dunthorn (University of Oslo), who explored the ongoing challenge of estimating the number of free-living ciliate species. Megan Gross (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau) introduced digital PCR as a precise tool for measuring ciliate abundance, while Yash Pardasani (Uppsala University) presented exciting research on Paulinella amoebas and the origin of photosynthetic eukaryotes.
The afternoon featured talks from Staffan Svärd on the dual identity of Giardia, and Jon Jerlström Hultqvist, who shared structural insights into protist symbiosis. Courtney Stairs (Lund University) closed the session with a compelling talk on protist adaptations to anaerobic environments.
The day ended with a walk through Kulturen’s open-air museum, grounding our microbial discussions in the cultural landscape of Skåne. Awards for Best Oral Presentation and Best Flash Talk went to Yash Pardasani and Nina Pohl, respectively.
You can see pictures and relevant material in this link.