Stoimir Kolarević
What did you study, when, where and most importantly: why?
Since my childhood I was interested in nature. For me, being a biologist is living a dream. I studied biology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade and graduated in 2009 with a diploma thesis in field of antimutagenesis at the Chair of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Branka Vuković-Gačić.
After my studies, I started research through projects at the chair of microbiology, Faculty of Biology, and in the school year 2009/10 I started my PhD studies. Since January 2011, I am working as a research associate on the project "Biologically active natural products as potential sources of new medicines and dietary supplements", funded by Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia and participate in the FP7 project “Cytothreat” (European Community's FP7/2007-2013 agreement n° 265 264).
What will your role be on board of the JDS3 ships?
Together with my colleges from Austria, Stefan Jackwerth and Georg Reischer, I will be responsible for microbiology analysis. We will use a range of methods to assess the microbiological water quality of the Danube River and status of microbiological communities.
Why is this important? What can we learn?
The microbiological quality of water is important for different aspects of usage of the water such as drinking water production, irrigation and recreation. Moreover, studying the dynamics of bacterial populations is of great scientific importance. Also, some new methods in molecular ecology will be applied on samples which will have breakthrough scientific importance. By integrating our data with the data of other research teams, we will hopefully gain a clearer picture of the relationships of different organisms in aquatic environments.
What is an important gain from JDS3 specifically for your country of origin?
I am from the city of Belgrade. My city is situated on the confluence of the Sava and Danube River. Unfortunately, in this section of the Danube River, water quality is compromised by large quantities of improperly treated wastewaters.
I hope that the results of JDS3 will draw attention to this issue in my home country and will help to improve water quality in this section of the Danube River.
What are you looking forward to regarding the JDS3?
For me, this will be a really great experience. I am looking forward to work with experts from different countries, to improve and exchange knowledge. I hope that I will have time to enjoy the beauty of the Danube River, especially its delta.
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Stoimir Kolarevic
