Andreas Nord

I am a broadly interested in how animals adapt to a world in constant change, such as in relation to a warmer, more unstable climate and in response to alterations in land use in the broad sense. Hence, work in my research group tries to understand how the environment affects different control systems in the body. Some of this work happens at the whole animal level, where we study how various mechanisms by which animals keep warm or cool have evolved and how they function today, and we also invest much time into understanding how the body’s own engines – the mitochondria – are affected by various stressors such as fluctuating temperature and toxins. Current research topics include studies of how extreme weather events during development impacts temperature tolerance over a lifetime. Perhaps you will forever be more adapted to a Mediterranean climate if you happened to be born during a heat wave? Increasingly we also address how the risk of overheating affects how animals care for their young. Our work shows that overheated parents are worse parents, and their progeny pays the price for it.

We mostly study various types of birds, from small songbirds in southern Sweden to large birds near the North Pole, all of which live in environments that are threatened in one way or the other. We also do some work on bumblebees and other bees, which are pretty much like small birds in many respects!