Rate My Professor Shingo Akita

Shingo Akita is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Fisheries Sciences at Hokkaido University, where he has been affiliated since 2021, initially as Assistant Professor and promoted to his current role in 2026. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Marine Science, Department of Marine Bioresources at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in 2013 and completed his graduate studies in the Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology, specializing in Applied Life Sciences, in 2018. His early career included postdoctoral research positions at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in 2018, an academic researcher role at Kobe University's Research Center for Inland Seas in 2019, and a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at Ochanomizu University from 2020 to 2021.

Professor Akita's research centers on the development of techniques for kelp bed conservation, elucidation of life cycles and ecophysiology in canopy-forming brown algae, and studies on species diversity within Phaeophyceae. Representative publications include "Molecular evidence for naturally occurring intra- and inter-generic hybridization in the genus Ecklonia (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae)" in Phycologia (2021), "DNA metabarcoding analysis of macroalgal seed banks on shell surface of the limpet Niveotectura pallida" in European Journal of Phycology (2020), "Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of Ecklonia spp. (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) in Japan revealed taxonomic revision of E. kurome and E. stolonifera" in Phycologia (2020), "Sorus formation on the holdfast haptera of the kelp Ecklonia radicosa (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales)" in Botanica Marina (2016), and "Phenology of annual kelp Eckloniopsis (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales) forest on a Diadema barren in Uchiura Bay, Central Pacific Coast of Honshu, Japan" in Journal of Applied Phycology (2014). He has received the 2nd Prize for poster presentation at the International Seaweed Symposium in 2013, the Research Encouragement Award from the Japanese Society for Phycology in 2021, and a paper award from the International Phycological Society in 2021. He serves on the editorial board of Phycological Research.