Hugo Harlin

Hugo grew up in Stockholm and found his way north to Umeå after completing a masters degree in engineering physics at Uppsala University in 2019. When the time came for Hugo to organize his master’s thesis project, he wanted to combine his background in engineering/computer-science with his keen interest in biology and ecosystems. Hugo got in contact with Sebastian Diehl at Icelab in the fall of 2018 and did his master thesis project during the spring of 2019 under the supervision of Professor Diehl.

Hugo is now a PhD student at IceLab, studying the dynamics of phytoplankton in freshwater lakes using spatially explicit mathematical models (PDEs). Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live freely suspended in water, and are found in virtually all aquatic ecosystems. Phytoplankton are primary producers, and contribute to roughly 50% of all primary production on Earth. It is therefore vital to understand the processes that drive phytoplankton dynamics in order to accurately model aquatic primary production as a whole.

In his spare time Hugo loves being outdoors and is a keen fly-fisherman, with brown trout being the species of choice. During the winter months when the fishing season is over, he likes to tie flies and post them on Instagram when he is not browsing memes or pictures of cats.