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International Summer School

Marine phytoplankton diversity observation: innovative methods and industrial applications

In the 18th Coastal Summer School 16 young scientists from nine nations visiting the North Sea island Helgoland for eleven days. The aim of the project is to deepen their knowledge of coastal phytoplankton research.

Station work with CTD and water samplers during a day excursion of the Coastal Summer School 2019 on the research vessel Heincke

Stationsarbeit mit CTD und Wasserschöpfern während einer Tagesexkursion der Coastal Summer School 2019 auf dem Forschungsschiff Heincke. (Foto: Hilke Alberts-Hubatsch / Alfred-Wegener-Institut)

This year's Summer School is titled: “Marine phytoplankton diversity observation: innovative methods and industrial applications”. On the Biologische Anstalt of Helgoland (BAH) of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), and on the research vessel Heincke they gain insight into techniques relevant to long-term and remote sensing observations of phytoplankton diversity and abundance detection as well as industrial applications of phytoplankton research related to microalgae biotechnology, aquaculture and bionics.

They are guided by twelve experts, who interdisciplinarily present them the latest findings on the summer school’s topic and discuss future challenges of coastal phytoplankton research with them. The lecturers from AWI are part of the European Project PORTWIMS (Portugal Twinning for innovation and excellence in marine science and earth observation), a network cooperative project betweenthe Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FC.ID) with AWI and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML).

In addition, the Institute for Coastal Research of the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht (HZG) contributes with a module linking phytoplankton to particle processes in the coastal ocean. Read more [www.awi.de]