Torkild Bakken

Dr. Torkild Bakken is an Associate Professor at NTNU University Museum's Department of Natural History, specializing in marine invertebrate biodiversity. As senior curator of marine invertebrates, he oversees zoological collections while researching polychaete worms and sea slugs in Norwegian waters.

Research combines traditional taxonomy with molecular methods to study deep-sea ecosystems, species distributions, and evolutionary relationships. Current projects include PolyNor (mapping Norwegian Sea polychaetes) and biodiversity genomics initiatives. Fieldwork encompasses coastal surveys and Arctic deep-sea expeditions.

Publications describe new species, analyze phylogenetic relationships, and develop DNA barcoding protocols for marine conservation. Recent work addresses ecological impacts of potential deep-sea mining operations.