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Bigelow Laboratory, in conjuction with the University of New England, is pleased announce its course offerings for 2005. Five courses at the upper undergraduate level/graduate level are planned.
Courses carry 2 or 3 graduate credits from the University of New England. Applications will be accepted beginning January 1 2005 (be sure to note the application deadline for each course).
Course participation will be limited to 8 - 12 individuals in order to provide maximum exposure for the student. Participants will be chosen based upon application materials and the date the deposit is received.
To register for the course or for further information, please contact Jane Gardner, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, POB 475, W. Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575; Tel. 207-633-9600; Also see the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences website.
Course Offerings
Phytoplankton Culture Techniques
18-24 May 2005; 2 credit hours; application deadline 1 March 2005
Dr. Robert Andersen and Dr. Michael Sieracki
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
The Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton will offer an intensive seven-day course covering basic and advanced techniques for isolating, growing and cryopreserving marine phytoplankton. The course is designed for academic graduate students and faculty members as well as aquaculturists. Isolation methods include direct single-cell isolation by micropipette, agar plating and flow cytometry and indirect methods such as dilution techniques and enrichments. Preparation and sterilization of various culture media will be described. Instructors will provide methods for culture purification, including physical (e.g. single-cell "washing"), chemical (e.g. antibiotic treatments) and automated (e.g., flow cytometry) approaches. Students, in groups no larger than 5-6, will participate in flow cytometric laboratory exercises for isolating and purifying culture strains and in cryopreservation laboratory exercises. Cryopreservation will include discussion of cryoprotectants, methods for freezing (simple techniques to computer-assisted control-rate freezers) and methods for thawing frozen cells. Other topics will include factors affecting culture health, such as light, temperature, salinity, nutrients and aeration. Mass culturing will also be addressed, and numerous species from the CCMP collection will be available for study. A copy of the book Algal Culturing Techniques will be supplied to each student.
Microzooplankton Ecology
6-10 June, 2005; 2 credit hours; application deadline 1 March 2005
Dr. Diane Stoecker, Horn Point Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
This one-week lecture course will provide the fundamentals of microzooplankton ecology as well as the latest techniques for their study. Topics to be covered include: functional ecology of heterotrophic flagellates, planktonic ciliates, heterotrophic-mixotrophic dinoflagellates, techniques for microzooplankton culturing , observation and enumeration, microzooplankton behavior and life history strategies, techniques for estimation of growth and grazing rates, mixotrophy and plastid retention, food web dynamics, impact on C, S and N cycles, and challenges of incorporating microzooplankton into models. Practical examples will be provided and integrated with the students' specific interests.
Early Life History of Marine Fishes
1-17 August, 2005; 3 credit hours; Application deadline 1 May 2005
John E. Olney, College of William and Mary
Edward D. Houde, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
*Course to be held at the Marine Science Education and Research Center of the University of New England, Biddeford, ME
This graduate level lecture and laboratory course offers a comprehensive view of the biology and taxonomy of early life stages of fishes. Pelagic eggs, larvae, and newly-transformed juveniles are abundant and diverse components of aquatic ecosystems that are vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stress. Morphological variation throughout ontogeny reflects ecological roles and systematic relationships. This class is intended for students with an interest in fish ecology, fisheries science, ichthyology, or biological oceanography, and an appropriate background in those disciplines is required. For further information, visit http://www.une.edu/cas/msc/course.asp. Note, to register for this specific course only, contact Mike Dunnington at the University of New England (mdunnington@une.edu, or 207-283-0170, ext. 2671).
Small-Scale Physical-Biological Interactions in the Plankton
15-19 August 2005; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 May 2005
George Jackson, Texas A&M University
Thomas Kiorboe, Danish Institute for Fisheries Research
David Fields, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
The adaptations of planktonic organisms, from viruses and bacteria to larval fish, can be understood only in the context of the immediate physical and chemical environment in which they live. Nutrient uptake, motility patterns, feeding and encounter rates, signal transmission and perception are all constrained by often non-intuitive interactions between organism biology and small-scale physical and chemical characteristics of the fluid environment (e.g. viscosity, fluid motion, diffusion). This course will examine the life and interactions of planktonic organisms in their small-scale world through lectures and laboratory and computer exercises and demonstrations.
Aquatic Cytometry: Applications of Flow and Imaging Cytometry to the Aquatic Sciences
Date 12 - 16 September 2005; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 June 2005
Dr. Michael Sieracki and Dr. Nicole Poulton
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
This course will cover the application of flow and imaging cytometry techniques for the study of marine particles with the emphasis on planktonic microorganisms - including prokaryotes, protozoa, and phytoplankton. Emphasis will be on the basics of flow cytometry and sorting, image analysis with fluorescence microscopy, and imaging-in-flow technology. There are hands-on operation opportunities with our BD FACScan, DAKO-Cytomation Mo Flo sorter, and FlowCAM. Participants are encouraged to develop small projects. The resources of the Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton (http://ccmp.bigelow.org) and the flow and imaging cytometry instruments here at Bigelow are available for the course and individual projects. See http://www.bigelow.org/cytometry and http://flowcam.bigelow.org for more information.
(Press release issued January 13, 2005) |
