Current research
I am a senior researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute and I am currently working in a project called RESIDENTS, where we use environmental DNA methods to study multi-kingdom biodiversity in residential environments and how this diversity affects the immune system development of children.
Since 2015, I have studied the interplay between the environment, microbiota and human health. Immune-mediated diseases, such as allergy, have increased among urban populations in recent decades. It has been suggested that one of the main reasons for this increase is the reduced microbial diversity in urban environments, which prevents immune system to develop properly.
My research aims are
to unravel how characteristics of the environment, biodiversity (including microbial diversity), human microbiota and human immune system function are interrelated
to find sustainable and equitable solutions to improve human immune system health and well-being
Recent research
From 2019-2025 I worked as a post doc in project called NATUREWELL - "The health and well-being impacts of outdoor recreation – study on urban youth" (PI Riikka Puhakka). This project studied various outdoor activities and how they affect the perceived psychological, social, and physical well-being of young urban people. My main responsibility and interest in the project was to study how the selected outdoor activities affect human microbiota. Microbial publications are still being prepared but Riikka Puhakka's papers about the potential of location-based games and nature hike in promoting youth well-being have been published.
In 2024-2025 I also collaborated in a project called Microbial Childhood: Restor(y)ing Daycare Ecologies led by University of Tampere. In this interdisciplinary project, we made microbes visible and relatable for daycare children by using participatory metagenomics and arts. I was responsible of the participatory metagenomics and science activities and publication of this project is currently under preparation.
Doctoral studies in aquatic community dynamics
Before I changed my research focus to human-nature relations, I studied aquatic sciences, especially stream macroinvertebrates. I defended my doctoral thesis titled as “Metacommunitystructuring in stream systems: disentangling the roles of regional and local processes” at the University of Oulu in 2015. In short, the main aim was to study how indirect methods, such as spatial location of the study sites, can be used to infer the importance of dispersal on community structuring. Although, I am not currently researching aquatic environments, I have carried on teaching especially macroinvertebrate field methods and identification at the University of Helsinki but also at Helsinki Finnish Adult Education Centre.
Page updated 17th January 2026