Bjoern C. SchaeffnerPhD, MS

Dr. Schaeffner is an Associate Professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and part of the Aquatic Animal Medicine team at SGU. His main area of research revolves around the captivating world of fish parasites, with a primary focus on their evolutionary history, systematics, and biodiversity. Current, collaborative research assesses the ecosystem health and impacts of global change and anthropogenic effects on host-parasite systems using fishes and their parasites as sentinel species to preserve ancient interrelationships and aquatic life for the future. Apart from directing SGU graduate students in parasitological research, Dr. Schaeffner engages in the new area of parasite conservation as a member of the IUCN SSC Parasite Specialist Group.

Dr. Schaeffner received his PhD in Veterinary Parasitology from the University of Melbourne. He then undertook several postdoctoral research fellowships at academic institutions in the Czech Republic, Brazil, and South Africa. Prior to joining SGU, Dr. Schaeffner served as a Research Scholar at the Institute for Experimental Pathology (Keldur) of the University of Iceland. Parasitological and ecological research outputs led to numerous international conference proceedings and publications in renowned academic journals.