ESSO - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

(An Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India)
Home ITCOocean Practical course on Marine Phytoplankton - optics, pigment and taxonomy

International Training Centre on Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean)

Practical course on

"Marine Phytoplankton - optics, pigment and taxonomy"


Background:

The unicellular micro-organism, phytoplankton, plays a critical role in the modulating aquatic ecosystem. They are the primary producers and foundation of the aquatic food chain. They also play a critical role in global carbon budget in addition to aquatic health assessment. Although most phytoplankton are intimately linked with all of the aforementioned processes, certain groups of phytoplankton have distinct physiological and biogeochemical attributes that afford them specialized functional roles in the oceans. The chlorophyll concentration being the most utilised ocean colour product, an evolving interest in retrieving other properties, including information on the composition of the phytoplankton community, has emerged in recent years. The phytoplankton community can be described on the basis of their size, pigment composition and taxonomy. This interest has paralleled the incorporation of the concept of phytoplankton functional types (PFTs) into studies of a range of ecological and biogeochemical problems, especially into modelling studies as each PFT represents a group of species aggregated according to distinct functional characteristics.

About the course:

The course intends towards providing overview of marine phytoplankton, its distribution, ecology and optical characteristics. The course includes theory classes as well as hands on exercises. The theory will cover the various aspects of marine phytoplankton including its distribution in World Ocean, physical control, ecology, pigment composition, optical characteristics etc. The hands on exercise will focus on measurement of phytoplankton pigment analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), optical properties and taxonomy. In addition, the trainees will independently analyse the samples and perform a mini group project .

Course contents:

  1. The Lectures will tentatively cover the following topics:
    • Marine phytoplankton ecology and analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
    • Phytoplankton optics: Applications and analysis
    • Marine Phytoplankton: photosynthetic systems, size classification and taxonomy
  2. Hands on exercise:
    • Measurements of phytoplankton absorption spectra
    • Phytoplankton pigment analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
    • Phytoplankton taxonomy using microscopy
  3. Group project:
    • The course participants are also expected to perform independent analysis of the unknown samples. The participants will be grouped and provided unknown samples. The participants are require to perform the analysis and explain the results as a part of mini-project.

Faculty:

The faculty for the course consists of scientists/experts in different fields drawn from the host institute (INCOIS) and also from other organizations like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). These experts have long and varied experience in the field of marine phytoplankton ecology, optics, instrumentation and applications.

Venue:

The training course will be held at ITCOocean, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, India.

Who can apply?

The training program is open to scientists, post-graduate fellows and doctoral students involved in oceanographic work with specific reference to Ocean Colour Remote Sensing and its applications. Priority will be given to students from Indian Ocean RIM countries. The trainees are expected to have basic knowledge of marine phytoplankton and ocean colour remote sensing along with basic computer skills. Preference will be given to the candidates pursuing their research or building a carrier in the above topics.
It is expected that participants should carry their own laptop computer.

Course Fee and Financial support:

A consolidated amount of Rs 6000/- is charged for the attending the course. This includes expenditure for accommodation on twin sharing basis, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Applicants need to find resources to fund themselves for attending the course and INCOIS will not be able to give any waiver no support in any form.

Important Dates :

  • Last date for online application: 01 March , 2019
  • Course Date: 25 - 29 March, 2019

Application:

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply for the course online by visiting http://www.incois.gov.in/ITCOocean/login.jsp on or before 01st March, 2019 @ 5:00PM IST.Upon intimation about selection, the shortlisted candidates are required to transfer the amount to the account details given below and send the transfer receipt as confirmation for amount transfer to attend the course.
Name of Bank: Andhra Bank
Account Number: 171410100022294
IFSC code: ANDB0001714
MICR code: 500011157

Contact Address:

Coordinator
International Training Centre on Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean)
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
(Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India)
"Ocean Valley", Pragathi Nagar (B.O.)
Nizampet (S.O.), HYDERABAD - 500 090
TELANGANA
INDIA
Tel : +91 40 23895000
Fax : +91 40 23895001
E mail : itcoocean@incois.gov.in

Agenda / Programme


Time (Hrs, IST)

REGISTRATION: 09.00 to 09.15

Faculty/Speaker

Day-1: (25.03.2019)

09:15

-

09:30

Welcome & Introduction to the Course

Dr. T.V.S. Udaya Bhaskar

09:30

-

11:00

L1: Marine Phytoplankton: photosynthetic systems, size classification and taxonomy

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

11:00

-

11:30

Tea/Coffee

11:30

-

13:00

L2: Marine phytoplankton ecology and analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy

13:00

-

14:00

Lunch

14:00

-

15:30

L3: Marine optics: Applications and analysis

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker

15:30

-

16:00

Tea/Coffee

16:00

-

17:30

Dividing participants into batches, project discussion, instrument demonstration and sample preparation

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker

Day-2: (26.03.2019)

09:30

-

11:00

Parallel Practical Sessions:

P1: Phytoplankton pigment analysis using (HPLC)

P2: Phytoplankton absorption spectra using integrating sphere spectroscopy

P3: Phytoplankton taxonomy using microscopy

Dr. Rajdeep Roy /

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker

Mr. Alakes Samanta

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

11:00

-

11:30

Tea/Coffee

11:30

-

13:00

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

13:00

-

14:00

Lunch

14:00

-

15:30

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

15:30

-

16:00

Tea/Coffee

16:00

-

17:30

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

Day-3: (27.03.2019)

09:30

-

11:00

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. S.K.Baliarsingh

11:00

-

11:30

Tea/Coffee

11:30

-

13:00

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

13:00

-

14:00

Lunch

14:00

-

15:30

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

15:30

-

16:00

Tea/Coffee

16:00

-

17:30

Parallel Practical Sessions (cont..)

Dr. Rajdeep Roy,

Dr. Aneesh Lotliker,

Mr. Alakes Samanta,

Dr. S. K. Baliarsingh

Day-4: (28.03.2019)

09:30

-

11:00

Group project

11:00

-

11:30

Tea/Coffee

11:30

-

13:00

Group project

13:00

-

14:00

Lunch

14:00

-

15:30

Group project

15:30

-

16:00

Tea/Coffee

16:00

-

17:30

Group project

Day-5: (29.03.2019)

09:30

-

11:00

Group project

11:00

-

11:30

Tea/Coffee

11:30

-

13:00

Group project

13:00

-

14:00

Lunch

14:00

-

15:30

Project Presentation

15:30

-

16:00

Tea/Coffee

16:00

-

17:30

Valedictory function

Group projects:

Project

Title

Mentor

1

Phytoplankton species distribution in Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea

Dr. S.K. Baliarsingh

2

Vertical distribution of phytoplankton absorption coefficient in Arabian Sea

Mr. Alakes Samanta

3

Vertical distribution of phytoplankton pigment characteristics in Arabian Sea

Dr. Rajdeep Roy

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