Six questions for the Professor - meet Teunis Jansen

What do you think about being appointed Professor?

It is a great joy and pride. Partly because it is a recognition of all my scientific work, and partly because it tells me that this research area is important for DTU and The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

Would you like to describe your research briefly?

I am doing research in quantitative fisheries biology with a focus on fish around Greenland. Status of fish stocks, as well as advice to the Greenland Ministry of Fisheries. Pelagic fish in particular have my interest.

Part of my research is applied research, e.g. within acoustic studies of ecosystems, where, among other things, I work on a new way of measuring the cod stocks with acoustics. The fieldwork is primarily carried out from the research ship Sanna and with acoustic buoys.

In addition, I also deal with more general basic biological research about the interactions of fish in ecosystems, their migration behavior and how this is affected by climate change.

Now we take a big leap back to hear where your interest in marine life began?

My father taught me both to fish and to sail. It was probably from around the age of 10 that it really turned me on. After that I spent a lot of time fishing, e.g. pike in marshes, cod in Øresund and garfish in Roskilde fjord. I grew up by the fjord in Roskilde.

Our holidays were mostly with a sailboat, and over time the fishing rod was supplemented with a mask, snorkel and then with diving bottles. Everything on and in water has always had an almost magical attraction to me.

Biology was a natural choice for me as I wanted to study at university. I have a PhD in biology from the University of Copenhagen.

Then I came to DTU Aqua, where I got a job in the section in Hirtshals. Here I worked with biodiversity among marine invertebrates, and in fact I have described two new species of crustaceans!

But I wanted to return to my original interest in fish. So that's why I wrote a PhD thesis in fish biology at DTU Aqua, where the topic was mackerel in the North Sea. Here, I was able to track down the red thread that I still follow regarding the population dynamics of pelagic fish, in which the spatial understanding of their behavior has always been central.

Why is marine research important today?

Human impact on marine life is accelerating. Fishing and especially overfishing of many fish stocks over the last half century has led to changed structures in the marine ecosystems.

This – combined with discharges of harmful substances, nutrient discharges and man-made global warming – has led to the fact that the sea is in a rather negative development at many points today.

In order to change that, it is first and foremost important that we continuously monitor life in the sea and objectively publish the status of the development. When information about the condition leads to a desire for change from the population and from the political side, research-based advice on the most effective measures is needed.

There, we researchers today must be forward-looking and provide the detailed knowledge about the relationships in nature in the sea that will be used tomorrow.

How will your research area with the new professorship contribute to a more sustainable world?

This is possible because we can use this knowledge to improve and clarify the research-based advice for the fisheries around Greenland. This gives politicians the opportunity to decide on sustainable frameworks for fisheries.

When you don't work, what do you like to do?

I find sail racing to be really fun and exciting. It is all about teamwork, you are challenged physically, and you have to think quickly and tactically-strategically. My whole family like to sail, so occasionally we go on sailing holidays in the Mediterranean.

My other leisure interests are of a slightly more nerdy nature: I play Dungeons and Dragons and board games with my high school friends.

Last and newest hobby comes out of my interest in history combined with the fact that I love being outside in all kinds of weather. I have started walking with a metal detector and looking for Danish cattle from ancient times for the National Museum.

Together with a few friends, I have, among other things, found three treasures. Two from the Viking Age and one from the Bronze Age - buried 3000 years ago. It was a wild experience.

Photos by Søren Post og Anja Retzel