SHORT CV

I began my research career at the Marine Biology Station Piran (NIB) during my PhD, focusing on harmful algal blooms, phytoplankton diversity in the Slovenian Sea, molecular detection methods, and advanced bioinformatics. I earned my PhD in Ecotechnology from the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School in October 2021, with the dissertation Diversity, ecology and sensing of the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia in the Gulf of Trieste.

During my PhD, I expanded my research to diatom viruses, leading to my postdoctoral project Diatom Viruses and Their Role in Organic Matter Cycling in Coastal Seas (funded in October 2022). Through this project, we successfully isolated and characterized the first known viruses infecting Pseudo-nitzschia (project details).

In 2024, I was awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholar grant to join the Kay Bidle and Kim Thamatrakoln Lab at Rutgers University, where I investigated how viral infections affect diatom aggregation. This research included participation in a two-week oceanographic expedition in the California Current Ecosystem, studying the interplay of viral infection, turbulence, sinking, and aggregation.

My current research explores how viral infections shape biogeochemical cycles and microbial communities, while I continue to develop molecular tools for phytoplankton monitoring.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

I frequently write for popular science magazines and websites, where I try to bring my scientific interest to the general public and even children. For my science communication excellence I received the Prometheus of Science award in 2018 and along with other members of the In the Swirl of Change Symposium organizing committee also in 2021.  I was the winner of the 2019 ScienceSlam contest (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2415422218692959). I am a member of the executive board of the Slovenian Natural History Society and a member of the Council for Antarctic and Arctic Research of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (https://www.sazu.si/svet-za-raziskave-antarktike-in-arktike). I was also a co-chair and founding member of the young scientist leg of the Euromarine network (OYSTER https://euromarinenetwork.eu/oyster/).

SELECTED (NEWER) PUBLICATIONS

1. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, FRANCÉ, Janja, ARAPOV, Jasna,, NERI, Francesca, ACCORONI, Stefano, TOTTI, Cecilia, CERINO, Federica, FERRANTE, Mariella Immacolata., BERNARDI AUBRY, Fabrizio, FINOTTO, Stefania, GODRIJAN, Jelena, DRAKULOVIĆ, Dragana, MOZETIČ, Patricija, 2025. Comprehensive Insights into Pseudo-nitzschia Research in the Adriatic Sea: Diverse Perspectives and Emerging Discoveries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Jul. 2025, vol. 319, [art. No.] 109283.

2. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, KUTNJAK, Denis, GUTIÉRREZ-AGUIRRE, Ion, BRUSSAARD, Corina P. D., BAČNIK, Katarina. Discovery of novel and known viruses associated with toxigenic and non-toxigenic bloom forming diatoms from the Northern Adriatic Sea. Harmful algae. Nov. 2024, vol. 139, [art. no.] 102737, str. 1-13, ilustr. ISSN 1568-9883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2024.102737

3. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, VASCOTTO, Ivano, FRANCÉ, Janja, STANKOVIĆ, David, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Evaluation of the rbcL marker for metabarcoding of marine diatoms and inference of population structure of selected genera. Frontiers in microbiology. Mar. 2023, vol. 14, str. 1-21, ilustr. ISSN 1664-302X. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1071379, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1071379. [COBISS.SI-ID 143697411]

4. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, DALL’ARA, Sonia, DOLENC, Jožica, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Toxicity of the Diatom Genus Pseudo-nitzschia (Bacillariophyceae) : insights from toxicity tests and genetic screening in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Toxins : Elektronski vir. 2022, vol. 14, iss. 1, str. 1-17, ilustr. ISSN 2072-6651. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/14/1/60/htm, https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=137126, DOI: 10.3390/toxins14010060. [COBISS.SI-ID 94153219]

5. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, CERINO, Federica, STANKOVIĆ, David, FRANCÉ, Janja, RAMŠAK, Andreja, TUŠEK-ŽNIDARIČ, Magda, BERAN, Alfred, NATALI, Vanessa, CABRINI, Marina, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Ecological time series and integrative taxonomy unveil seasonality and diversity of the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia H. Peragallo in the northern Adriatic Sea. Harmful algae. Mar. 2020, vol. 93, 101773, str. 1-20, ilustr. ISSN 1568-9883. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568988320300536?via%3Dihub, https://dirros.openscience.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=11205, DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2020.101773. [COBISS.SI-ID 40469253]

 Link to COBISS, a Slovenian database containing all my publications