IV/330, Chalakkode, 670307, India
EDUCATION
Graduate School of Kuroshio Sciences (黒潮研究学部), Kochi University, Japan
April 2005 - Present
Ph.D. candidate (Japanese Govt. MEXT Fellow)
· Title: "Ecophysiology and phylogeography of Monostroma in Southern Japan."
· Broad subject categories: Phycology, Marine Biology, Aquatic Botany, Evolutionary Biology, Biogeography, Cladistics, Environmental sciences.
· Dissertation supervisor: Prof. Kazuo Okuda
· Expected to complete: March 2010.
Department of Biotechnology, University of Madras (UM), India
April 2000 - March 2002
M.Sc in Biotechnology
· Dissertation title: Multi Helical Tubular Airlift Photobioreactor: a novel design for microalgal Biotechnology.
· Final Result: 76.4%, First class "Outstanding" grade.
St Pius X College (SPTC), Kannur University, Kerala, India
April 1997 -March 2000
B.Sc in Microbiology
· With Chemistry and Physiology as subsidiary subjects.
· Final Result: 87.6%, First class, University first rank.
RESEARCH TRAINING/FELLOWSHIPS
Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), University of Washington, USA
July 2007 - August 2007
Student: Marine Botany Summer Course (With scholarship from National Science Foundation (NSF), USA)
· Trained in field/lab identification of various seaweeds, including Scanning electron microscopy for diatoms.
· Trained in DNA barcoding / phylogeny reconstruction methods.
· Supervisors: Prof. Charles J O'Kelly and Prof. Paul W Gabrielson.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, India
August 2003 - February 2005
CSIR-Junior Research Fellow (Council of Scientific and Industrial research, Govt. of India)
· Topic: "Algae-based Biological desalination: implementation strategies.
· Supervisor: Prof. H. S. Shankar.
National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, India
June 2002 - July 2003
CSIR-Junior Research Fellow (Council of Scientific and Industrial research, Govt. of India)
· Topic: Diversity of Picoplanktons in Indian Ocean
· Supervisor: Dr. S. Raghukumar
· Participated in two research cruises for a total 40d sea-bound.
National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, India
March 2002 - May 2002
Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Research Fellow
· Topic: UV resistance in thraustochytrids.
· Supervisor: Dr. SWA Naqvi and Dr. S. Raghukumar
National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR), Bangalore, India
March 2001 - April 2001
JNCASR-Rajiv Gandhi Summer Research Fellow
· Topic: Salt tolerance by Na+/H+ antiporters in Dunaliella salina.
· Supervisor: Prof. M.K. Mathew
SKILLS
· Identification and culturing of microscopic and macroscopic algae.
· Extraction, amplification and sequencing from algal genomic DNA.
· Phylogenetic analyses using PAUP*, MEGA and Geneious.
· DNA and RNA secondary structure analysis.
· Vector graphics illustration by Adobe Illustrator CS4
LANGUAGES
Malayalam
· Mother tongue, excellent
English
· Very good; TOEFL (2002) score: 247 (of 300)
Japanese
· Intermediate level; intensive Japanese language certificate from Kochi University, Japan
PUBLICATIONS
Scholarly articles
· Bast F, Hiraoka M & Okuda K (2009) Spatiotemporal Sex Ratios of a Dioecious Marine Green Alga: Monostroma latissimum (Kützing) Wittrock. International Journal on Algae 11(2):141-150.
· Bast F, Shimada S, Hiraoka M & Okuda K (2009) Asexual life history by biflagellate zoids in Monostroma latissimum (Ulotrichales). Aquatic Botany 91:213-218.
· Bast F, Shimada S, Hiraoka M & Okuda K (2009) Seasonality and thallus ontogeny of edible seaweed Monostroma latissimum (Kützing) Wittrock (Chlorophyta Monostromataceae) from Tosa Bay Kochi Japan. Hydrobiologia 630:161-167.
Conference proceedings/abstracts
· Book of abstracts, 57th Annual Winter Meeting of the British Phycological Society, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom. Published in The Phycologist
· Book of abstracts, XIX International Seaweed Symposium, Kobe, Japan.
Other publications
· Taxonomy of Green Algae: A Lab poster. Designed and published online independently.
· Bast F, Hydrogen: A Key to Clean Energy Future?. Reviewed popular science article published online at BBC, 31st May 2004.
· Bast F, Ca2+ : An Ion of Biological Cybernetics. Reviewed popular science article published online at BBC. 12th March, 2004. Google Scholar Citation list
CONFERENCES ATTENDED
· 57th Winter meeting of the British Phycological Society, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom. January 2009. Supported by student bursary from the BPS (Oral and Poster presentations).
· XIX International Seaweed Symposium, Kobe, Japan, March 2007. Supported by Japanese Phycological Society grants. (Poster presentation).
MEMBERSHIPS
· Student member, British Phycological Society (BPS).
· Student member, Phycological Society of America (PSA).
felix.bast@gmail.com • phone: 91.9497601239 • last edited on 14-12-2009