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Our long-term goal is to understand the ecology of phytoplankton, especially the large, colonial diatoms which frequently dominate the flora of coastal shelves, upwelling areas, fjords and banks. We are interested in ways in which species-specific properties, including cell and colony size and shape interact with small-scale physical mixing processes to regulate the spatio-temporal distribution of diatoms. We wish to understand these processes in sufficient detail to be able to predict bloom dynamics, size structure and the impact of species-specific characteristics of the phytoplankton on ocean optics.

Our long term goal is to understand the ecology of phytoplankton, especially the large, colonial diatoms which frequently dominate the flora of coastal shelves, upwelling areas, fjords and banks. We are interested in ways in which species-specific properties, including cell and colony size and shape interact with physical mixing processes to regulate the spatio-temporal distribution of diatoms. We wish to understand these processes in sufficient detail to be able to predict bloom dynamics, size structure, and the impact of species-specific characteristics of the phytoplankton on ocean optics. This award addresses that goal by providing instrumentation and computer systems which facilitate the processes of: (1) acquiring images of the different kinds of plankton which are present in our samples, (2) electronically sharing those images (data) via the world-wide-web (WWW), or local networks (LAN), (3) quantifying size, shape, and other parameters of plankton cells and colonies via image analysis and image reconstruction, and (4) creating educational materials (e.g. lectures, videos etc.).

Our long term goal is to understand the ecology of the large, colonial diatoms which frequently dominate the phytoplankton of coastal shelves, upwelling areas, fjords and banks. We are interested in ways in which species-specific properties, including colony size and shape interact with small scale physical mixing processes to regulate the spatio-temporal distribution of diatoms. We wish to understand these processes in sufficient detail to be able to predict bloom dynamics, size structure and the impact of species-specific characteristics of the phytoplankton on ocean optics. Our current research addresses the role of shear in regulating diatom blooms. Our goal is to increase understanding of how small-scale physical mixing processes affect the distribution of individual diatom taxa in space and time, as well as potential effects on growth, mortality and the size spectrum of colonies in the ocean. First order questions include (1) What is the pattern of distribution of diatoms in the field in space and time? (2) Do highly stratified regions of the water column provide sufficient refuge from disruption to lead to the formation of phytoplankton layers? (3) What is the relative susceptibility of different diatoms to shear stress? (4) Does a colony's past history affect its susceptibility to breakage? (5) Can diatom mortality be predicted based on larger scale physical forcing factors such as wind speed?