Marta Pieristè successfully defended her PhD dissertation, “Light after Death: the importance of spectral composition in litter decomposition processes” on Tuesday 16th June 2020 at 10:30 a.m. EET Finland. You can relive the PhD defence using the following video link: Marta Pieristè PhD defence
In addition to the Thesis Summary, the dissertation is composed of three published papers and one manuscript below:
- Pieristè† Neimane† et al. (2020) Ultraviolet radiation accelerates photodegradation under controlled conditions but slows the decomposition of leaf litter from forest stands in southern Finland. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. PLAPHY5920 146, 42–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PLAPHY.2019.11.005
- Pieristè et al., (2019) Solar UV-A radiation and blue light enhance tree leaf litter decomposition in a temperate forest by accelerating photodegradation rate. Oecologia, 191(1), 191-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04478-x
- Pieristè et al., (2020) Sunlight affects the microbial functional structure of beech leaf litter. Plant & Soil, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04557-6
- Pieristè et al., (manuscript – embargoed) The crucial role of blue light as a driver of photodegradation in terrestrial ecosystems on the global scale: a meta-analysis.
As a joint PhD between Normandie Universite Rouen and the University of Helsinki, Marta’s Examination was be conducted by:
Opponents: Prof Laura Llorens Guasch, University of Girona (Spain) and Dr Stephan Hättenschwiler, CNRS Montpelier (France).
Pre-examiners: Prof Christiane Gallet, University Savoie (France) and Dr Tarja Lehto, University of Eastern Finland (Finland).
Custos : Prof Kurt Fagerstedt, University of Helsinki (Finland).
President: Prof Matty Berg, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands).
To meet the requirements of the co-tutelle PhD, the defence commenced with a 50 minute presentation – followed by 20-30 minutes of questioning by each examiner in turn.