Coastal oceanography and algal research

UTS C3: Coastal oceanography and algal research video transcript

 
My team is trying to answer questions about the productivity of Australian marine ecosystems, how they're responding to current events and what will happen to them in the future. Why we think that's really important is because more than 80 per cent of Australians live close to the coast or on the coast, and coastal ecosystems provide a lot of value to us. They create jobs, raise revenue, create a lot of recreational opportunities for everyday Australians. 
 
So these systems are undergoing huge social, environmental and economic change, and our goal is to try and answer questions about how coastal ecosystems are going to respond to those challenges. We're using several technologies. The first is a sorting flow cytometer that allows us to rapidly sort microscopic cells out of sea water samples, and the second is a high content imaging system. Together, those two instruments form part of a laboratory that we're calling the micro CSI. We've been funded by the ARC to put this together. 
 
Effectively, it's a huge game changer for looking at photosynthesis in marine systems. So we're able, like never before, to investigate cells directly next to their ocean habitats without having to bring them back to land based laboratories, in a preserved state. We're able to look at live cells right close to the ocean and understand how they're functioning.
 
The technology will enable an unprecedented level of discovery about the diversity of marine microbes and the way that they're functioning. They provide a lot of ecosystem service, and we still don't know how those services are affected by natural and human disturbances. This will be the way to answer those questions.
 
UTS has been fantastic in acquiring the resources and setting up the research facilities for us to be able to use it as a really effective platform for our research. We'd like to be able to work with marine industries, to partner with them in effective ways so that we can answer their specific questions and help build a more economic, vibrant, Australian marine industry, and I'd like to use this laboratory as a way to educate both the public and our research students in order to be able to build a better Australia for the future.
 
 

6 April 2015 02:56

UTS C3 researcher Martina Doblin discusses importance of Australian coastal marine ecosystems  and the portable micro lab technology she uses to look at live microscopic  cells right close to the ocean to better understand how they're functioning.

Tags: marine biology, phytoplankton, marine productivity, climate change, flow cytometry, imaging, micro CSI, oceanography, marine productivity, algae, marine ecosystems

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