Thesis nailing ceremony: Neele Schmidt
- Date
- 27 January 2026, 10:00–10:40
- Location
- Campus Gotland, Almedalsbiblioteket
- Type
- Academic ceremony
- Organiser
- Department of Ecology and Genetics
- Contact person
- Neele Schmidt
You are warmly invited to attend Neele Schmidt's thesis nailing ceremony, when she will present her thesis titled 'Ecosystem restoration through restocking hatchling cod in the Baltic Sea: Overcoming critical challenges'.
Neele Schmidt’s doctoral thesis investigates whether releasing newly hatched Eastern Baltic cod larvae can support recovery of a population that has collapsed due to decades of overfishing, poor management, reduced food availability, and oxygen-depleted deep waters. Despite a fishing ban, stocks show no signs of improvement, so the study explores how hatch-and-release can be done effectively and sustainably.
To identify suitable release sites, fish communities in two coastal bays were surveyed using gillnets and environmental DNA (eDNA). Both methods detected predators like sprat and herring, as well as competitors, and combining them provided a more complete picture of local ecosystems.
Larvae were produced from captive cod throughout the spawning season, with egg and larval traits such as size, thiamin content, deformities, and survival monitored. Results showed high variability and highlighted the complexity of reproduction even under controlled conditions. Experiments adjusting salinity revealed that lowering it near hatching improved buoyancy and survival in Baltic conditions.
To track released larvae, otolith marking was tested. Immersion in strontium-enriched water created clear, detectable marks and proved scalable for mass marking.
Overall, this work provides key steps for future restocking programs—from site selection to larval preparation and identification. While releases alone cannot rebuild stocks, they can aid recovery when environmental conditions improve, alongside restoring oxygen levels and food availability.
Thesis nailing
The thesis nailing ceremony will take place in the research gallery on the second floor of the Almedalen Library, Tuesday 27 January, at 10 o'clock.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
About Nailing
Nailing (“spikning”) is an academic tradition in which a doctoral student publicly announces their thesis at least three weeks before the public defence.
Today this is done digitally, for example through DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet), but at Campus Gotland the tradition is complemented by a ceremony in which the thesis is physically nailed to a wooden board in the research gallery of the Almedalen Library, using a special hammer and nail.
Once the thesis has been nailed, anyone is free to read it and the other theses that have been posted earlier.
Foto: Daniel Olsson
Thesis defence
The thesis defence will take place on Tuesday, 17 February, 10:00–12:00, in Zootissalen (EBC), Villavägen 9 in Uppsala.
About Neele Schmidt
Neele Schmidt is PhD student at the Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology.
She is engaged in the ReCod project - release of small cod in the Baltic Sea, an initiative focused on the release of juvenile cod in the Baltic Sea, implemented and funded by the BalticWaters Foundation in collaboration with Uppsala University.