Dörner is interested in animal behaviour, neuroethology, ecology and anthropogenic effects on animal behaviour and species dynamics. The focus of her PhD is on the effects of light and noise pollution on migratory fish.

More information about Lisa Dörner

Research

Dörner's PhD project forms part of the AquaPLAN consortium, which aims to quantify the combined impacts of light and noise pollution on aquatic biodiversity in European waters, and provide common experimental protocols for studying and managing these pollutants through novel interdisciplinary approaches. The consortium studies a variety of habitats and taxa from Mediterranean marine areas to northern European rivers.

Fish use sound as environmental cues and have been shown to be affected by noise pollution through disturbance, deterrence, distraction and masking of biologically relevant sounds. Migratory fish specifically may use cues from natural soundscapes during their migration through rivers, and may be influenced by anthropogenic noises influencing the soundscape, or even constituting sound barriers such as boat traffic noise or noise from boat passages. Light acts as a Zeitgeber, and diurnal and seasonal variations in the duration and intensity of light affect physiological and behavioural processes in fish. Diurnal and nocturnal migratory fish species use light as cues for the start/stop of migrating and navigation. Anthropogenic light may reduce the difference between day and night, which could in turn influence energy expenditure and migration success of migratory fish. Anthropogenic noise and light often influence natural sound- and lightscapes at the same time, influencing fish behaviour, and potentially impacting migration success.

To investigate this, Dörner will conduct monitoring projects, as well as outdoor and indoor experimental studies.

She will assess the effects of anthropogenic noise on a migratory fish species, the twaite shad (Alosa fallax), by undertaking a passive acoustic monitoring project at the river Scheldt. Shad spawning intensity will be correlated with boat passage noise, AIS-vessel data, and traffic on bridges to assess whether spawning is interrupted by vessel noise, and whether the fish are deterred by noisy bridges.

Telemetry data sets of tagged migratory fish will be cross-correlated with light pollution and noise-maps along migratory routes, to estimate the effect of noise and light pollution on fish migration.

Field experiments assessing the effects of noise and light stimuli on fish behaviour will be conducted in mesocosm systems.

Finally, using the Migradome-tilted flume in the lab, Dörner will test the impact of different light conditions and biogenic sound and anthropogenic noise on sticklebacks.

During her PhD, Dörner is supervised by associate professor Dr. Hans Slabbekoorn and assistant professor Christian Tudorache. My supervision committee also includes associate professor Dr. Katharina Riebel and private lecturer Franz Hölker (IGB, Berlin).  For this PhD Dörner will be working within the AquaPLAN consortium, and alongside various individuals from across the Netherlands and Belgium.

Professional experience

In 2016, Dörner acquired a BSc in Neurosciences from the University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK), working on the potential of Drosophila melanogaster larvae as models of mild-traumatic brain injury.

In 2023, Dörner acquired an MSc in Neuroscience from the University of Bonn (Germany), where she found an interest in neuroethology and animal behaviour. Over the course of her studies and Master's thesis, Dörner worked with weakly electric fish Mormyrus rume proboscirostris. These nocturnal fish use their electrosense to forage and communicate in the dark; and social cohesion is correlated with age and the development of their electric organ. For her thesis, Dörner studied differences in social cohesion, social interactions and boldness between groups of juvenile and adult M. rume.

In March 2024, Dörner started her PhD on the effects of noise and light pollution on migratory fish.