Ph.D. (2016, HOSST)
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Department of Marine Ecology: Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Fishes (in association with CAU Kiel, HMRI & Dalhousie University)
Thesis: Population genetics and contemporaneous connectivity in deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussels of the genus Bathymodiolus
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Reusch (GEOMAR), Prof. Dr. Frank Melzner (GEOMAR), Prof. Dr. Anna Metaxas (Dalhousie University)
Current Position [Aug 2016]: Postdoc in the Symbiosis Group (leader: Prof. Dr. Nicole Dubilier) at the Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen (Germany)
Education
M.Sc. Biological Oceanography
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel & CAU Kiel
October 2010 – October 2012
Thesis: Population genetics and morphometric variation in blue mussels of the western Baltic Sea
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Frank Melzner (GEOMAR), Prof. Dr. Thorsten Reusch (GEOMAR), Dr. Heiko Stuckas (Senckenberg Institute Dresden)
B.Sc. Biology
CAU Kiel
October 2007 – September 2010
Thesis: Temperature-body size relationships in marine benthic diatoms as a function of irradiance and dispersal
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Sommer (GEOMAR), Prof. Dr. Heinz Brendelberger (CAU), Dr. Birte Matthiessen (GEOMAR)
Scholarships and Awards
HOSST Ph.D. fellowship, Helmholtz Research Association
Germany Scholarship, CAU Kiel (October 2011 – September 2012)
Publications
Breusing C, Biastoch A, Drews A, Metaxas A, Jollivet D, Vrijenhoek RC, Bayer T, Melzner F, Sayavedra L, Petersen JM, Dubilier N, Schilhabel MB, Rosenstiel P, Reusch TBH (2016) Biophysical and population genetic models predict presence of “phantom” stepping stones connecting Mid-Atlantic Ridge vent ecosystems. Curr Biol (accepted)
Breusing C, Johnson SB, Tunnicliffe V, Vrijenhoek RC (2015) Population structure and connectivity in Indo-Pacific deep-sea mussels of the Bathymodiolus septemdierum complex. Conserv Genet doi: 10.1007/s10592-015-0750-0
Sayavedra L, Kleiner M, Ponnudurai R, Wetzel S, Pelletier E, Barbe V, Satoh N, Shoguchi E, Fink D, Breusing C, Reusch TBH, Rosenstiel P, Schilhabel MB, Schweder T, Markert S, Dubilier N, Petersen JM (2015) Abundant toxin-related genes in the genomes of beneficial symbionts from deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussels. eLife doi: 10.7554/eLife.07966
Presentations
Breusing C, Biastoch A, Drews A, Metaxas A, Jollivet D, Sayavedra L, Vrijenhoek RC, Petersen JM, Melzner F, Dubilier N, Schilhabel MB, Rosenstiel P, Reusch TBH (2015) Population connectivity and dispersal of vent mussels from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Talk at the 14th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium (Aveiro, Portugal)
Breusing C, Biastoch A, Metaxas A, Melzner F, Reusch TBH (2013) Population connectivity and speciation of vent mussels from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: An interdisciplinary approach. Poster at the World Congress of Malacology (Ponta Delgada, Azores)
Work and Volunteer Experience
Summer student, Utrecht University (Faculty of Medicine) — August 2011
Student apprentice, CAU Kiel (Department of Zoophysiology) — June 2010
Student apprentice, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Department of Marine Ecology: Foodwebs) — July to September 2009
Marine Benthic Ecology and conservation 