Dinoflagellate Biology
May 12-16, 2003; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 March 2003 Dr. F.J.R. "Max" Taylor, F.R.S.C. Professor, University of British Columbia. (Editor and contributor, "The Biology of Dinoflagellates" (Blackwell), author of the article on "Dinoflagellates", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences; Yasumoto 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA), Instructor of the Year, Dept. of Earth & Ocean Sciences, U.B.C. 2001.)

An intense one-week workshop, including theory and lab. sessions, reviewing basic biology and recent developments in the studying of this fascinating and ecologically important group of protists. Material examined will include live field samples from Boothbay Harbor, preserved samples from different biogeographic regions and cultures from the Provasoli-Guillard National Culture Center for marine phytoplankton.

Lecture and discussion topics will include a brief overview of taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of living and fossil dinoflagellates, unusual cell biology (features chromosomes without histones, eyes etc), involvement in bioluminescence, symbioses and "red tides."

Ecology Of Harmful Algal Blooms
Date May 18-23, 2003; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 March 2003
Dr. Ted Smayda
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island

The quantitative ecology of harmful algal species and their blooms will be the theme of this lecture series. Topics to be covered will include: Tthe competitive strategies, distribution, life histories and selection of bloom species; their phylogenetic, growth, production and nutritional features; and the global patterns, population dynamics, environmental control and trophic impacts of harmful blooms. Emphasis will be placed on the ecophysiology of harmful species, and on the ecological principles involved in bloom dynamics and regulation.

Phytoplankton Culture Techniques
Date 28 May-3 June, 2003; 3 credit hours; application deadline 31 March 2003
Dr. Robert A. 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.

MODIS Ocean Products and Data Processing
Date 7-11 July, 2003; 2 credit hours; application deadline 31 March 2003
Dr. Robert Evans, Dr. Viva Banzon and Ms Katherine Kilpatrick, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

This intensive course will cover the nuances of ocean color and sea surface temperature collected by NASA's Moderate resolution scanning spectrometer (MODIS) aboard the TERRA and AQUA platforms. Lecture topics will include the history and development of ocean color and SST remote sensing algorithms. Particular emphasis will be put on the current state of the art as applied to the MODIS sensor and its 36 ocean color and 4 SST products. Heritage products such as chlorophyll and 11-12um SST will be discussed in relation to previous sensors(i.e. CZCS/SeaWIFS/AVHRR), and new products will be explained. These include fluorescence line height, chlorophyll fluorescence efficiency, and calcite products.

A daily, hands-on, lab will provide students with the tools and skills to order and manipulate MODIS HDF files with the goal to create the best images to fit students' research needs. Students will be expected to complete a small research project using MODIS data and are requested to state topics of interest at the time of application to enable the course and lab work to be tailored to their needs. Students will be expected to have basic computer skills; some knowledge of IDL would be useful but is not required.

Aquatic Cytometry: Applications of Flow and Imaging Cytometry to the Aquatic Sciences
Date 15 - 19 September 2003; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 June 2003
Dr. Michael E. 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.

Sea Ice Biology and Chemistry
Date: January 18-22, 2004; 2 credit hours; application deadline 15 October 2003
David Thomas, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales-Bangor, U.K.
Michael Lizotte, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

As a habitat for organisms, sea ice is one of the most common extreme environments on earth. This course will review environmental conditions and organisms that occur in sea ice, as well as biological adaptation/acclimation to the sea ice environment. These topics will be synthesized by exploring current ideas regarding biological modification of sea ice chemistry, and its implications for biogeochemical cycling, development of biological communities, and physical exchange with the water column.

Laboratory sessions will explore ice and brine sampling, plus experiments in sea ice formation. An overnight trip is planned to tour and use facilities at the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).