Current Position

November 2024 — Present
Associate Research Scientist
IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories — Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications — Radioecology Laboratory, Monaco

Investigating Harmful Algal Blooms and Biotoxins, as well as managing technical cooperation projects.

Education

2024
Dr. rer. nat. — Doctor of Natural Sciences
University of Bremen, Germany — magna cum laude

Funded by a private scholarship from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU).

2020
M.Sc. — Master of Science in Biochemistry
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany — Grade: 1.5

English-language degree. Major fields: Biochemistry and organic chemistry.

2017
B.Sc. — Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany — Grade: 2.1

Major fields: Inorganic, organic and physical chemistry.

2013
Abitur
Albert-Einstein-Schule, Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany — Grade: 1.5

Major fields: Mathematics and Chemistry. Included a scholar year abroad in New Zealand (2010–2011).

Research Experience

2021 — 2024
PhD Student
Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Sciences, Bremerhaven

Expansion factors of the toxic and potentially fish-toxic microalgae Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax in German coastal waters and assessment of the future hazard potential.

  • Sterile cultivation of microalgae and zooplankton
  • Risk assessment of marine toxins through toxicological cell assays
  • Extensive time-series analysis of long-term monitoring data from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
  • Publication of scientific results in journals and at conferences
  • Logistic preparation and execution of ship expeditions

Supervised by PD Dr. Cédric Meunier; co-supervised by Dr. Urban Tillmann, Dr. Bernd Krock, and Dr. Florian Koch.

2020
Master Thesis
Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Sciences, Bremerhaven

Optimization of Vitamin B12 Analysis in Seawater using LC-MS/MS.

  • Established a vitamin B12 extraction method from seawater
  • Optimized and enhanced sensitivity across liquid chromatography and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Klaus Förstemann; co-supervised by Dr. Bernd Krock and Dr. Florian Koch.

2017
Bachelor Thesis
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich

Towards the Bioinspired Total Synthesis of Stachyflin and Aureol.

  • Independent contribution to an extensive organic synthesis of two natural compounds
  • Purity determination via NMR and mass spectrometry
  • Handling of toxic and hydrolysis-sensitive substances under inert gas

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Thomas Magauer.

Publications

First Author

Möller et al. "Time series analysis of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax across Northern European waters." Harmful Algae (2026). DOI

Möller et al. "Toxic effects of the emerging Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax (Dinophyceae) on multiple trophic levels of the pelagic food web." Harmful Algae (2024). DOI

Möller et al. "Effects of bottom-up factors on growth and toxin content of a harmful algae bloom dinoflagellate." Limnology & Oceanography (2024). DOI

Möller et al. "Method optimization of the simultaneous detection of B12 congeners leading to the detection of a novel isomer of hydroxycobalamin in seawater." Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (2022). DOI

Möller et al. "Distribution of phycotoxins in Última Esperanza Province during the PROFAN expedition 2019." Progress in Oceanography (2022). DOI

Co-Author

Haut et al. "A Negishi cross-coupling reaction enables the total synthesis of (+)-stachyflin." Tetrahedron (2018). DOI

Tondu, F., Moeller, K., Sdiri, K. et al. "Biofilm Formation on Polyethylene Microplastics Affects Brevetoxin Adsorption and Desorption." Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2025). DOI

Fieldwork & Research Stays

2023
R/V Aurora — Baltic Sea
AWI in cooperation with Aarhus University, Denmark (1 week)

Logistical preparation and successful execution of laboratory work in a multinational team.

2023
R/V Alkor — Baltic Sea
University Hamburg (1 week)

Logistical preparation and execution of laboratory work; introduction of master students to sampling of toxic microalgae.

2023
Research Stay — Vienna
Universität Wien (4 weeks)

Toxicological risk assessment of marine toxins; sterile work with sensitive cell lines. Results yielded the best presentation award at the ICHA conference.

2022 / 2023
Research Stay — Roskilde
Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark (3 weeks)

Diverse time-series analysis in R: independent formatting, filtering, and visual representation of ecological datasets; results published in dissertation and presented at a scientific conference.

2022
Black Sea Expedition
AWI in cooperation with TÜBITAK Institute, Turkey (1 week)

Preparation and elaborate execution of laboratory work in a partly non-English-speaking international team on a state-owned Turkish research vessel.

2020
R/V Uthörn — North Sea & Baltic Sea
AWI (4 weeks)

Successful completion of various laboratory tasks within a multinational team. Served as expedition leader, coordinating scientific operations in collaboration with the ship's captain (10 days total at sea).

Conferences

2024
Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM)
New Orleans, USA — Poster presentation
2023
International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA)
Hiroshima, Japan — Oral presentation
★ ISSHA Maureen Keller Award — Best Oral Student Presentation
2021
ICYMARE
Bremerhaven, Germany — Oral presentation

Skills

Laboratory

Chemical analytics — LC-MS/MS; NMR, IR, UV-Vis, Raman spectroscopy (good)
Sterile cell culture work and toxicological assays
Establishment and maintenance of algae and zooplankton cultures
Organic chemistry — handling toxic, flammable, and explosive substances; organic synthesis
Inorganic chemistry — crystal structure analyses and various analytical techniques
Molecular genetics — sterile work with RNA/DNA, cloning, CRISPR-Cas
Ribosome biogenesis — yeast transformations

IT & Computing

R — advanced
Python — intermediate
HTML — good
LaTeX — good
Excel, PowerPoint — proficient

Languages

German — Native
English — Fluent (C2)
French — Very good (B2–C1)