Courses: Foundations of Marine Science
Courses are taught at the upper undergraduate level/graduate level. Applications will be accepted beginning 1 January 2009; be sure to note the application deadline. Enrollment is limited 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 a course or for further information, please contact Jane Gardner at the email address below.
Phytoplankton Culturing Techniques
Dr. Robert A. Andersen and Dr. Michael E. Sieracki, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Dates: April 30 - May 6, 2009
Application deadline: TBA
Course limit: 10
Course tuition: $2,500 (includes breakfast and lunch)
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton will offer an intensive seven-day course that describes basic and advanced techniques for isolating, growing and cryopreserving marine phytoplankton. The course is limited to 10 persons, and it is designed for graduate students, faculty members and 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 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, will participate in flow cytometric laboratory exercises for isolating and purifying culture strains. Similarly, small groups will conduct 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. Factors affecting culture health such as light, temperature, salinity, nutrients and aeration, will be discussed. Large scale or mass culturing will be discussed in lecture and laboratory exercises. 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. A research scholarship of $1000 from the Rose Provasoli Endowment Fund will be awarded to one participant (we favor PhD and post-doctoral students in the competition). To compete for the scholarship, please send a description of your research. The course fee is $2,500 and includes breakfast and lunch. Housing and evening meals are not included.
If you have questions or would like a course application mailed or faxed to you, please contact:
180 McKown Point Road
West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575-0475
U.S.A.