Suvi Ruuskanen
PhD, adjunct professor
skruus@utu.fi Vesilinnantie 5 Turku Office: 042 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5582-9455 |
Areas of expertise
Evolutionary ecology; physiological ecology; ecotoxicology and environmental ecology; behavioral ecology;epigenetics; avian ecology
Evolutionary ecology; physiological ecology; ecotoxicology and environmental ecology; behavioral ecology;epigenetics; avian ecology
Biography
2015-2020 Academy of Finland research fellow, Univ Turku
2012-2015 Academy of Finland postdoc researcher, Netherlands Institute of ecology/University of Groningen, NL
2010-2012 Post-doctoral researcher, Univ Turku
2007-2010 PhD, Univ Turku
Research
My research fields are at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, ecophysiology and behavioral and environmental ecology. I am broadly interested in the proximate physiological mechanisms underlying variation in phenotypic, behavioral and fitness traits and their plasticity. I want to understand how physiologically-regulated traits enable organismal adaptation to changing environmental conditions and play a part in species interactions, potentially even affecting population processes. I am also interested in how interactions with microbes (gut microbiome) relate to phenotypic variation in wild populations. I further want to understand more broadly how various early-life environmental conditions affects offspring development and fitness with a specific interest in non-genetic inheritance, such as maternal effects and epigenetics
Current group members:
Post-docs: Bin-Yan Hsu (UTU), Antoine Stier (UTU)
PhD students: Tom Sarraude (UTU/University of Gronigen), Nina Cossin-Sevrin (UTU)
MSc students: Lotta Holmen (UTU), Mark Verschuuren (NIOO, NL), Lyydia Leino (UTU)
BSc students: Mikaela Hukkanen (UTU)
Visiting: Coline Marciau
Interns:
Research group pages: https://sites.utu.fi/ruuskanengroup/
Teaching
Ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology:
2018-2019-2020
Vertebrate ecology research (BIOL2204)
Seminars in Biology (BIOL5200)
Ecotoxicology (FYGE2060)
Presenting and Publishing Data (BIOL5201)
Publications 
1 of 4
- Can increased prenatal exposure to thyroid hormones alter physiology and behaviour in the long-term? Insights from an experimental study in Japanese quails (2026)
- PeerJMolecular Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Warm and cool temperatures decrease early‐life telomere length in wild pied flycatchersDoes colour-morph variation in metabolic physiology and oxidative stress match morph-specific life–history strategies? (2026)
- Journal of Avian BiologyOecologia
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - DNA Methylation Associates With Sex‐Specific Effects of Experimentally Increased Yolk Testosterone in Wild NestlingsSexual Dimorphism in Red Blood Cell Mitochondrial Respiration during Breeding Fasts in King Penguins2025
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2025)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Seasonal and environmental factors contribute to the variation in the gut microbiome : A large-scale study of a small bird (2025)
- Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology (EEP)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Early-life environmental effects on birds: epigenetics and microbiome as mechanisms underlying long-lasting phenotypic changes2024
- Journal of Experimental Biology
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - (2024)
- Journal of Animal Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Early-life environmental effects on mitochondrial aerobic metabolism: a brood size manipulation in wild great tits (2023)
- Journal of Experimental Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Ecosystem consequences of herbicides: the role of microbiome (2023)
- Trends in Ecology and Evolution
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Effects of incubation temperature and maternal phenotype on Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) eggs and larvae: An experimental study (2023)
- Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic SciencesJournal of Animal Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - From maternal glucocorticoid and thyroid hormones to epigenetic regulation of offspring gene expression: An experimental study in a wild bird speciesPrenatal thyroid hormones accelerate postnatal growth and telomere shortening in wild great tits (2023)
- Evolutionary ApplicationsJournal of Experimental Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - No evidence for associations between brood size, gut microbiome diversity and survival in great tit (Parus major) nestlings (2023)
- Animal microbiome
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Population divergence in maternal investment and embryo energy use and allocation suggests adaptive responses to cool climates2023
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2023)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Stress in the social context: a behavioural and eco-evolutionary perspectiveThe effect of experimental lead pollution on DNA methylation in a wild bird population (2023)
- Journal of Experimental BiologyEpigenetics
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Altricial Bird Early-Stage Embryos Express the Molecular "Machinery" to Respond to and Modulate Maternal Thyroid Hormone CuesAdaptation of bacteria to glyphosate: a microevolutionary perspective of the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (2022)
- Physiological and Biochemical ZoologyEnvironmental Microbiology Reports
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An ecologist's guide for studying DNA methylation variation in wild vertebrates (2022)
- Molecular Ecology Resources
- Maternally transferred thyroid hormones and life-history variation in birds (2022)
- Journal of Animal Ecology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2022)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2021)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
UTU Research Portal