Meet the ISDR Council
Meet the ISDR Council - we will present you every month somebody else from the current ISDR council . The council members will write small blog posts about themselves including their role in the ISDR and their personal research interests
In August we would like to present you
Hannah Hartung (née Vossel), elected ECR representative, telling us how she got in contact with diatoms and how Young ISDR was formed
So here is my story about how I got into diatoms and my experiences, I have made in the last couple of years: I studied Geosciences at the University of Cologne and had a great interest in palaeontology. During my second year, I took a course in micropalaeontology, where we learnt something about foraminifera, radiolarians and of course diatoms. All those organisms are fascinating, so the question is: what kept me going with the diatoms in the end? That is quickly explained: beside their large variety of beautiful ornamentations and shapes, I was taught that some of them have the ability to actively move around with the speed of around 5 µm/s. In this moment I thought: A plant (algae), which is able to move around, having a hardcover shell – how cool is this? I need to know more about those organisms! You might understand my fascination about this fact, once you have seen a culture of Navicula floating around like little boats under the light microscope (little nerd fact here: Navicula comes from the Latin word navis, which means “little boat”).
Around two hours later, I found myself sitting in the
library reading all about diatoms. The next super fact about diatoms hit me
there: they produce around a quarter of the oxygen existing on Earth – wow! At
the same moment, I asked myself quickly: Why
do we know, what a tree is, but do not know that diatoms even exist, when
leaving school?
So fascinated, I wanted to do something with diatoms
in my Bachelor thesis. My micropalaeo-professor was shocked and told me, that I
must be crazy as the taxonomy is extremely extensive. Not scared by that, I got
some samples from the Bath profile in Barbados, from which once famous Ernst
Haeckel described his famous “Handbook of Radiolarians” during his Challenger
Expedition. Highly motivated to study the diatoms in this profile, I started to
prepare first rock samples in the lab. And here it comes: NOT a single valve
was preserved L,
but plenty of beautiful radiolarians; so I decided to work with those and my theory
in the end was, that the radiolarians might have eaten away the diatoms (?)
Once the Bachelor was done, the master started and
with the master comes a master thesis – so the next chance for me to explore
diatoms a bit more. I changed to the University of Bonn in October 2010 and quickly
become a member of the palaeobotany working group as student assistant. In
March 2010, Prof. Dr. T. Litt (my supervising professor and head of the working
group) took sediment cores from Lake Kinneret in Israel and was looking for
students, who wanted to investigate those a bit more. Here, I saw my chance to
look for some diatoms - finally. I had some trouble with slide preparation at
the beginning, got in contact with Dr. Jane Reed from the University of Hull (later
my second supervisor during my PhD) and finally learnt properly to prepare
samples and how to identify the first diatoms. AND in this moment, I quickly started
to understand, what my micropalaeo-professor from Cologne meant by “extremely
extensive” taxonomy... I opened the famous “green books” from Horst
Lange-Bertalot and asked myself, how I ever will distinguish between all those
Navicula – which all looked the same for me at this moment.
I made my way through the sediment cores, diatom
taxonomy and counting. One day, I googled around the web and crashed by
accident into the website from the International Society for Diatom Research – oh there is a Central European Diatom
meeting held in Thonon-les-Bains, France. I decided to apply for a travel
grant to go to this meeting to present my results from my Master thesis and got
it. I went – all alone – to this meeting and gave my first ever presentation on
a conference on the last day of the meeting. I could not believe, that in the
end, I won the best student presentation award, made several new friends and
got to know so many nice and well-known diatomists. I experienced that the
diatom community is very open and helpful, and that there seems to be no
thinking of competition, which I do appreciate a lot until today! Diatom
scientist are very cooperative, always give advice and offer their help. Two
things I will never forget: (1) I was standing around alone a bit overwhelmed
during the first day – Herman van Dam came to me and started talking with me
and asked, if I was ok, who I was and what I am doing with diatoms. This gave
me a good feeling and I try to do the same during conferences and icebreaker parties
now – maybe you can also try to do so in the future? (2) The conference dinner:
the students were placed all together (as so often during this meeting) on one
large table. Horst Lange-Bertalot decided that evening to sit with the
students, with the words “I know the other folks already – I want to know the
future diatomists.” Shortly after this meeting, I became a member of ISDR and
there were, of course, many more meetings I have visited…
During
conferences and diatom meetings: (left) with Rick Battarbee at the
British Diatom Meeting, (middle) with Horst Lange-Bertalot at the IDS in
Berlin, (right) John P. Smol came along during the IPA poster session
in Stockholm to support our work
After my Master was done, I started my PhD entitled
“Holocene environmental and climate change in the southern Levant: diatom-based
palaeolimnology of Lake Kinneret (Israel)” at the University of Bonn funded by
the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. I continued my work from my master
thesis and investigated the fossil and modern diatom flora from Lake Kinneret
(Israel) in detail. I do not want to reveal too much about it here at this
point, as there might come up a “Diatom of the Month” post as well in the next
couple of weeks. ;) I finished and
successfully defended my PhD this year and I am now looking for a
Postdoc-position/project to stay a bit longer in science and work with what I
love so much – diatoms and inspire (& teaching) future students.
After telling you the story how I got into diatoms, I
also want to use the chance to say a few words about Young ISDR and the
importance of having a society like ISDR:
The whole idea of possible ECR activities during
diatom meetings was born during a poster session at the EGU 2015 in Vienna: I
presented my poster next to the poster of Rainer Pienitz, who was the president
of the ISDR and organizer of the next ISD meeting in Québec at that time. We
discussed the importance of such a forum for young diatomists and agreed that I
would try to organize some activities during the upcoming IDS such as a
speed-talk session and a small assembly for ECRs. Those activities were a great success and the
council of the ISDR agreed that a young diatomist should represent the needs of
our generation in the council of the society. I was elected to serve as first
ECR in the history of the society – a huge task. Xavier Benito also stood as
candidate beside several others for this position. Happily, I could convince
him to work with me together on this important task in the future. In Prague
the year after, I met Andrea Burfeid Castellanos, who was also quickly convinced to work
with us – the moment Young ISDR and its core team was born. All actions
followed, e.g. like the construction of the blog page and future IDS activity
organisation, would never be so successful without them. I would like to use
the chance to THANK YOU Andrea and Xavi that I got the chance to work with you.
I was thought early in my life, that a team leader is only as good as its team
members - and I had the BEST team members for fulfilling the task as ECR for
the society!
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During
conferences and diatom meetings: (left) with Rick Battarbee at the
British Diatom Meeting, (middle) with Horst Lange-Bertalot at the IDS in
Berlin, (right) John P. Smol came along during the IPA poster session
in Stockholm to support our work
|
After my Master was done, I started my PhD entitled “Holocene environmental and climate change in the southern Levant: diatom-based palaeolimnology of Lake Kinneret (Israel)” at the University of Bonn funded by the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. I continued my work from my master thesis and investigated the fossil and modern diatom flora from Lake Kinneret (Israel) in detail. I do not want to reveal too much about it here at this point, as there might come up a “Diatom of the Month” post as well in the next couple of weeks. ;) I finished and successfully defended my PhD this year and I am now looking for a Postdoc-position/project to stay a bit longer in science and work with what I love so much – diatoms and inspire (& teaching) future students.
 | ||
| First "Young Diatomist Meeting" in Québec, Canada, in 2016 |
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Presenting the activities of Young ISDR during the ISDR member meeting in Berlin 2018
|
Looking
back, I think, we have achieved a lot as Young ISDR team in the last couple of
years:
- We created a well-running blog website and a communication network for young diatomists, so they do know that ISDR does exist, inform them about job opportunities and future meetings
- Speed-talks, ECR-workshops, ECR-discussion meetings are an important part of IDS meetings
- We negotiated a discount with Koeltz books for ECRs
- Advertising the ISDR society and its importanc
- ...
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| Young ISDR group picture during the IDS meeting in Berlin, Germany, in 2018 |
I am also thinking, that it will be the job of our
generation to keep the society alive in the future and that we have a critical
role in shaping future diatom-related science as well. In times of climate
change debates, we (and also the society) have to raise awareness in the public
in the future, how important diatoms are, as they play a major role in the
carbon fixing cycle and are important oxygen producers. The impact of climate
change on diatom floras living in the oceans is unclear and not predictable at
this moment. I have the dream that in the future every child knows, what a
diatom is and how they look like.
In June we would like to present you
Andrea M. Burfeid Castellanos, elected ECR representative
Diatoms and me go way back. Ok,
not so much. Even though I successfully forgot that one of my high school
biology exams was on the recurrence of Tabellaria
flocculosa on a lake, my first “real” experience with diatoms stems from
the moment my professor at the University of Barcelona, Jaume Cambra, read my
name.
- Burfeid? -, he asked, -where
does this name come from?
-Ermm, originally it is Austrian,
I think, but my dad is German
-Do you speak German?
-Yes.
-Come to my office.
After procrastinating with
student work for a while, I finally got the chance to visit said office, and
there were the wonderful slides from a small river in Solsona, a place in the
north of Catalonia with their abundant Achnanthidium
and Eunotia. Next to the slides, four books that would accompany
me quite a while: the four tomes of the “Süsswasserflora von Mitteleuropa” on Bacillariophyta, written by Krammer and
Lange-Bertalot. I enjoyed the time at the microscope, and seeing diatoms moving
in their life samples for the first time was a hoot. They have been a constant
in my life from then on. My Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral theses looked
into Mediterranean diatoms, their taxonomy -with stints in Berlin with Regine
Jahn and her team-, their ecology and physiological responses – which brought
me to Bánk Beszteri’s team. And I have always been fascinated with their weird
position in the tree of life. I always liked things that stick out, the “odd
man out”. And what sticks out more than a “plant” that moves around?
Even though my pre-doctoral work
was on continental, benthic river diatoms, I am now going to branch out a
little, and will investigate epiphytic diatoms from Antarctica in a short
scholarship coming up. Currently, I am working at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz
Centre for Polar and Marine Research as a technician, participating in taking
care of the Hustedt diatom collection and keeping cultures of Antarctic diatoms
alive (mostly Fragilariopsis kerguelensis
(O’Meara) Hustedt).
One of the most important things that I got told by my professor was to try and attend to all congresses and symposia that I could. I mostly financed myself, with some help of the department, but went to alternate of the now extinct (or re-named) “Central European Diatom Meetings”. In one of those, Prague 2017, as I was the only member of my working group present at these meetings, I was approached by Hannah Hartung, who talked about the plan to create an international network for early-career researchers (ECRs) in diatom research. I liked the idea and volunteered to help in response to her e-mail. I had gained some experience in the early-career researcher organization with the Iberian part of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), called the AIL, where I had participated in organizing a “statistics with R” course, and wanted to see if I could bring something to the team.
Young diatomists originally, now
called Young ISDR, started with a core team based on Hannah and another young
AIL member, Xavier Benito, now working in the USA. Even though it was a lot of
extra work, it was great fun to create this blog and organize activities around
the International Diatom Symposium in Berlin last year. Without a trace of
shame I will say that I think that our monthly skype sessions really showed in
the organization of the Young ISDR activities, and that all of the Core Team
members gave a lot of time and did splendid work 😊. In this symposium I was elected new ECR
representative, to accompany and learn from Hannah for two years, before taking
the next ECR representative under my wing next year, in 2020 in Yamagata. In
Berlin, we also welcomed an increase in our Core team, with Mia Otto and Chetan
Gaonkar as active volunteers for several projects.
Hannah and Andrea at the International Diatom Symposium, presenting the missing starting Young ISDR Core team member, Xavi.
I believe that early career
researchers all over the world deserve a good network of their peers, and
living in the 21st century as we do, I think that it is only right
that Young ISDR is based on the web and social media, to assure international
connectivity. We have been very active with several projects (diatom children’s
book, diatom of the month monthly posts, and the preparation of new projects). I
would love to cooperate closely with other, closely linked ECR-networks such as
PAGES and IPA bringing as many people working with diatoms together. If you
would be interested in helping Young ISDR in any way, curating the blog,
organizing meeting linked or unlinked workshops, please contact us. We would be honoured to
have you as a volunteer!
In March 2019 we would like to present you
Rosa Trobajo, Elected Vice-president of the ISDR
Rosa sampling with her IRTA colleagues at the Ebro River.
I think I joined ISDR soon after I began my PhD in 1998 (mainly to receive Diatom
Research). I was elected as a council member in 2014 (2014-2018) and in 2018 as
vice-president (2018-2020). I spent 7 years (2011-2018) as an Associate Editor
of Diatom Research.
Rosa (second from the left) with other diatomologists at the European Phycological Congress in London.
What would I
like to see developing in ISDR? My experience has shown me how important it is
to be open to collaborations across national boundaries and different
disciplines, and to equip young researchers to think and work hard and
independently. And I think the ISDR is a wonderful platform to facilitate this.
But this requires us to work to make it happen: any society is only what the
members are prepared to do for it – the time and effort they commit to it but
also the capacity to listen to others and work for the common good.
What I’ve
seen of the young diatomists makes me very optimistic for our society’s future and its present! You are very dynamic, ready to invest time
(without complaints about being busy – though of course you are indeed very busy)
and with plenty of new ideas and, very important, you get things moving. You
are a generation naturally good at many different means of communications and
dissemination and, I believe, ISDR needs to learn from you.
In May 2018 we would like to present you
Oscar Romero, Elected Council member of the ISDR
I discovered the fascinating world of diatoms during my undergrad years in Argentina. After finishing my biology degree, I spent the early years of my professional career in Chile and USA, where I studied benthic diatoms and the temporal variability of diatom populations in low-latitude, marine upwelling systems. I moved afterward to Bremen (Germany), where I did my PhD on the temporal variations of marine diatom assemblages. I have spent most of my professional career in Germany, working as a micropaleontologist together with geologists. This gave me a different perspective on the understanding marine (paleo)biogeochemistry and the use of diatoms in a broader scientific context.
My main research interests are (i) evolution and dynamics of Neogene paleoclimate, (ii) effects of changes in biodiversity and climate on marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, and (iii) the role of diatoms in the marine productivity and the silica cycle of the oceans. Since my early years as a scientist, I also devote part of my research efforts to the study of benthic diatoms, in particular the genus Cocconeis Ehrenberg.
As part of my research on paleoclimate and paleoceanography, I use marine diatoms as tools for reconstructing past climate and oceanographic conditions and generate high-resolution diatom records for Neogene paleoclimate (for more information about my research see publications). I compare my own results on the species-specific composition of the preserved diatom assemblage with other proxies, such as bulk sediment components, isotopes on diatoms, alkenones and major and minor elements. I have sailed on 13 oceanographic expeditions, these including the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean and Ross Seas. My experience on Cenozoic diatom stratigraphy mainly relates with my participation on expeditions of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). On each expedition I have participated as “Biostratigrapher (diatom specialist)”, have gained significant knowledge and expertise on diatom-based biostratigraphy from different ocean basins at high and low latitudes, and have learnt to interpret and correlate stratigraphy with that delivered by other microfossils and paleomagnetism. My on-board and home-lab biostratigraphic work requires a sound knowledge of diatom taxonomy. In this regard, my experience with diatom taxonomy and (paleo-)ecology is not only limited to low- and mid-latitudes areas of the ocean, but it also extends to southern polar waters and the Subarctic Atlantic.
As a current council member of the ISDR, I am convinced that the society plays an important role in the actual science world. Since my first IDS in Tokyo in 1996, I have attended several IDS and believe that this get-together is not only important from the scientific point of view, but I also enjoy seeing colleagues from all over the world every few years again. Early 2016, I started the IDSR site on Facebook. This collaborative effort has strongly increased the online visibility of the society. I am particularly happy about the initiative of the young diatomologists and I strongly support this effort.
In April 2018 we would like to present you
Keely Mills, Honorary Treasurer of the ISDR
My name
is Keely. I love
lake sediments and siliceous algae. I have
learned over time that this declaration works one of two ways, in a pub with
people I don’t know, it’s usually a conversation killer. In terms of this blog,
I am assured I am in good company, and it is most definitely a conversation
starter!
Officially,
I act in the capacity of Honorary Treasurer for the ISDR. This is a role I have
held since moving back to the UK in 2012 (more on that later). My role as
Treasurer means I have a rather large responsibility. I am the person who looks
after the Society’s finances, and as the ISDR is a Registered Charity, it means
I manage our charitable status compliance. I am also the one person who has met
every single member of the ISDR, perhaps not in person, but I am the one behind
the scenes who is managing all of your subscription payments to the Society,
and who makes sure your copies of Diatom Research make their way to your
letterbox. I do love this job, but it can often get pretty hectic with
subscription payments, subscription queries, and balancing that with my normal
job. I think, mostly, I have it under control, but I will use this forum to
apologise in advance for when I drop a few balls, and my ISDR activities slow
to a snail’s pace!
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| Looking perplexed whilst coring Tower Hill Lake (Victoria, Australia) |
So, how
did I become a diatom professional? Actually, I had never heard of a diatom
until Sarah Davies (our current Secretary) started lecturing at Aberystwyth
University in 2003, when I was in my 3rd year of my undergraduate
degree. Up until then, I was a fan of pollen, but then Sarah waltzed in to a
lecture theatre and well and truly turned my attention to the beautifully
ornate diatoms. Well, say no more – off I went to undertake an MSc in
Quaternary Science where my project used diatom from the Lofoten Islands,
Norway, to look at changes in sea level over the Holocene. This led to a PhD
looking at diatom records (palaeolimnology) from crater lakes in Uganda, a
postdoc using diatom records to assess drought history in Australia, and a
short stint at lecturing at Loughborough University! I took up my current role
at the British Geological Survey in 2014 a job that still allows me to dabble
in the world of diatoms (mainly from Uganda and Malaysia), as well as
undertaking applied science as part of our Geoscience for
Sustainable Futures programme.
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| Team Diatom! A recent team selfie whilst on
fieldwork in Uganda with other notable diatomists (L-R: Tessa Driessen
[PhD student & young diatomist], Richard Nyakoojo [Ugandan colleague
who appreciates diatoms after working with us for 10 years], Emilie
Saulnier-Talbot, Me, David Ryves [all seasoned diatomists])! |
Even
though diatoms aren’t always my primary focus, I keep myself well in the loop –
mostly through my activities with the ISDR, through organising the annual
British Diatomists Meeting (which I love!), and random things like writing
blogs about my favourite diatom (Amphora
coffeaeformis…read all about it here).
One of the best things that has happened to the Society in the last few years
is the creation of this – the blog, the website, the “young” diatomist
community. One of my biggest worries is that we might lose touch with our
younger cohorts of diatomists – so I’m really chuffed to see that the Young
ISDR is going strong! Long may it continue? And if you are not a member of the
ISDR, the Young ISDR, or attending one of the many diatom related meetings. Why
not?
Be
there, or be centric!
In March 2018 we would like to present you
Eileen J. Cox, Editor in Chief of "Diatom Research"
Choosing Frank Round as a PhD supervisor in Bristol was my
route into working with diatoms, although it took about 6 months until we hit
on the topic that became my PhD project. (Fortunately I had also been appointed
as a departmental demonstrator so was not constrained by 3 years of funding!) Prior
to beginning with diatoms, I worked primarily with green algae, whose
identification and taxonomy depend on a different set of criteria to those
traditionally employed for diatoms. Furthermore, I was also investigating
tube-dwelling diatoms, so examining living material was critical to that, and I
never lost the habit.
Following Bristol my career took on a somewhat peripatetic
character with a series of research fellowships that both allowed and
encouraged diversification, while building on experience. Thus, work on
tube-dwelling species that span a number of genera led to the recognition that
the existing taxonomic treatment of those taxa was inadequate, and that more
detailed taxonomic work on naviculoid taxa (Oxford) was necessary. At that time
Navicula was something of rag-bag,
which the application of SEM and live observations revealed to be in need of
revision, and thus the discrimination of more narrowly defined genera,
including the resurrection of historical genera, began.
As the end of my Oxford research fellowship loomed, I was
alerted to a Royal Society scheme to encourage European exchange fellowships to
develop early career researchers and identified culturing and life history
studies of diatoms as an area I would like to develop. That, together with a
need to improve my German (at that stage much of the diatom literature was in
German) took me to Sylt and the Biologische Anstalt Helgoland to work alongside
Gerhard Drebes. Situated in the far north of Germany, this was a somewhat
isolated existence, but the experience of growing diatoms and following their
life histories provided clear evidence that diatoms do not reproduce their
valves precisely at each division, but are subject to change with size,
sometimes with significant taxonomic implications.
Although I had originally thought that I would only spend a
year in Germany, an unplanned meeting with Barbara Meyer (Hickel) from Plön (Holstein)
led to a move down to the Max-Planck-Institute for Limnology. Thus from working
with marine benthic taxa, I moved to looking at the benthic diatom flora in
lakes, and the interaction of diatoms with light, sediment and season. Again,
much of the time I was looking at live material, so excluding the inclusion of
dead material in my analyses, yet becoming aware of the contrasting ecological
demands of different taxa. From lakes, there was another move further south to
work in their running water station on the Breitenbach stream system near
Schlitz (Hessen). I might have been the only phycologist, but working alongside
colleagues from different disciplines underlined the importance of
understanding the range of interactions in aquatic ecosystems.
After over 8 years (not the planned one) in Germany, I
returned to the UK, initially working with an ecotoxicology group in Sheffield
before obtaining a NERC Advanced Research Fellowship to return to diatoms. With
the fellowship funding I aimed to use experimental studies on the growth of
different diatoms to understand their ecological responses, given their use as
environmental indicators. This was not without its challenges, but provided
some interesting results before the opportunity of a permanent position at the
Natural History Museum arose.
At the museum, with the combination of its collections,
library, microscopical facilities and laboratories, I sought to bring together
the different strands of my past experience, integrating experimental work with
more traditional taxonomic work. In addition, I was able to develop different
collaborations and, particularly through PhD students and post-doc colleagues,
explore different questions and use different approaches, extending to working
with computer scientists and mathematicians! Working across disciplines means
that all participants must be able to explain their own ideas extremely clearly
to ensure full understanding, but it also means that preconceptions are
challenged and very exciting new conclusions can then emerge.
IDS post-conference field trip in 2016
My links with ISDR go back before its beginnings, as I
attended the 4th Diatom Symposium in Oslo in 1976, almost 10 years
before the society was officially formed in Paris! Although I have not managed
to attend every International Diatom Symposium, I have seen the society develop
and the diversity of membership expand, and am delighted with the growth in
young student members. Like Ric Jordan, I was also familiar with the British
Diatomists’ meetings, and during my time in Germany was encouraged to initiate
the German speaking Diatomists meeting (DDT) in 1987, which has now become the
Central European Diatom meeting and is still going strong. The value of
national, European and international meetings cannot be over-emphasised. Being
able to come together with others to hear new ideas, learn about progress in
the subject and make new connections and friends, keeps the discipline alive
and developing.
The initiation of Diatom Research as the society’s journal provided
a platform for diatom focussed research and the continued growth of the journal
is a testament to the vitality of the area. While it continues to publish
taxonomic and systematic work, any aspect of diatom research can be submitted,
and I would like to see greater diversity in submissions, so that it really
reflects the full range of diatom research today. Being Editor-in-chief means
that I see all the work that is submitted, although the Associate editors are
responsible for finding reviewers and evaluating the quality of submissions
before forwarding them to me for a final recommendation. It cannot be too
strongly emphasised that their work is fundamental to the quality of the
journal, although I often spend quite a bit of time helping polish the final
versions. (Here I would also put in a plea that authors follow journal
instructions as closely as possible!) Similarly, having individuals who are
willing to review submissions is essential to maintaining the quality of the
journal, and I would encourage everyone who wants to have their work published to
see that being prepared to review papers is part of their contribution to the
research area.
Any society and its activities are dependent upon
membership, and the extent to which members are prepared to invest in that
society. Involvement takes time and energy, but the benefits far outweigh the
investment, both professionally and personally. International Diatom Symposia
began in 1970 with a small group of 15 diatomists, but the baton has been
passed down the line over the years, so that the symposia now attract much
larger numbers of individuals from around the world. That has to be a mark of
success, but it has only been achieved by people stepping forward to take on
organisational responsibility. I hope that long continues to be the case.
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| IDS post-conference field trip in 2016 |
In January 2018 we would like to present you
Ric
Jordan, ISDR Vice President
My first
encounter with diatoms was probably in an algology practical class, when I was
a 2nd year student at the University of Surrey in Guildford (UK),
where my personal tutor was Maurice Moss and my thesis supervisor was Tony
Chamberlain –both wrote papers on diatoms, with Maurice being a keen
microscopist, and Tony working on biofouling. Through Maurice and Tony, I
became a regular participant of the British Diatomist meetings in the 1980s. Reading
Hannah’s ‘British Diatom Meeting 2017’
report shows how surprisingly little has changed: “To present and discuss your
research in such a warm atmosphere” and “in a place in the middle of nowhere”. It brought back fond
memories ... and makes me want to attend one again. It was also during my time
at Guildford that I became interested in the scanning electron microscope – a
love that continues today. My undergraduate thesis was entitled “Cytochemical
and Ultrastructural Studies of Freshwater Diatom Attachment”, and involved
Alcian blue/Alcian yellow staining, LM, SEM, TEM, and a whirlimixer !!
My first
real job was at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, where I worked
as a micropalaeontologist, studying Quaternary diatoms in Southern Ocean sediments.
While at BAS, Julian Priddle introduced me to the marine genera, Rhizosolenia and Proboscia – which resulted in a series of papers, particularly in
collaboration with Ryszard Ligowski. Although, reluctantly, I left BAS after only
three years, my connection to polar diatoms is still strong, and I am a
long-standing participant of the polar diatom colloquia and workshops (see http://www.polarmarinediatomworkshop.org/). To zoom forward, I have now spent 25 years
in Japan, in Yamagata University, where my students work on diatom taxonomy,
evolution and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Gone are those halcyon days
with wet film and enlargers in darkrooms, letter set transfers on plates, and
knobs and buttons on the SEM – now the young diatomist works almost entirely in
digital. Even books and reprints have been largely replaced by pdfs – perhaps I
am too old-fashioned, but, unlike my students, I still like to peruse the hard
copies and potter about in my personal library.
I have
forgotten when I first joined the ISDR, but perhaps it was in the late 1980s,
when I was regularly attending the British Diatomists’ meetings and the British
Phycological Society winter meetings. My first IDS was Tokyo 1996 – which was
overshadowed by the sudden death of the symposium host, Professor Hiromu
Kobayasi, who was also the ISDR Vice President at the time. However, it was a
great meeting and I participated in both the mid- and post-conference
excursions; I remember my Masters student Masamichi Shiono (of Shionodiscus fame) gave a poster presentation
on freshwater diatom assemblages in lake sediments around the volcano, Mount
Bandai. Since then I have attended most of the IDS (missing only Croatia and
the USA), and later served on the Council from 2000-2002.
After
more than 200 years of diatom research, there are still plenty of opportunities
for young diatomists to make a name for themselves. Despite a plethora of papers
on floristics and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, we really know so little
about diatom ecology. For instance, there is a paucity of data on diatom
assemblage changes in nearshore-offshore transects, multi-year records from the
same station, or vertical distribution (e.g., from surf to shade flora). Unlike
many other plankton groups, we still have no biogeographic zonation scheme for
marine diatoms, and our knowledge of the assemblages from some habitats (e.g.,
mangroves, marine lakes) and on certain life styles (e.g., as epizoic diatoms,
endosymbionts) is still very poor.
As the
Berlin meeting (and the start of my presidency) approaches, I’d like to think
that young diatomists will be strongly motivated, not just to look for new
challenges in diatom research, but also to compile reliable ecological datasets
that will allow us to use diatoms as environmental proxies with more
confidence. Then, perhaps, the importance of diatoms in applied biology and
micropalaeontology will be finally realised.
In December 2017 we would like to present you
Mark Edlund, ISDR President
In first grade, when asked what I wanted to
be when I grew up, I confidently said (and correctly spelled)—scientist! Not a
fireman, not an astronaut, but a scientist. Some amazing parents, a science
aunt, and a few influential teachers kept me on that path. I finally met my
first diatom as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, but it was Prof.
David Czarnecki’s Freshwater Algae class at Itasca Biology Station that made me
realize that something as small, but as globally important as diatoms, could be
the focus of my work.
My name is Mark Edlund, and I am the current president of the ISDR. I joined the ISDR in 1987—as a young diatomist-in-training under Dr. Gene Stoermer—following some face-to-face encouragement from Dr. Frank Round, current ISDR president at the time. For me the ISDR serves as a professional home—I’ve attended almost every IDS meeting since 1990, served on the ISDR Council, been on the Editorial Board of Diatom Research since 2006, published in Diatom Research, co-organized the 21st IDS, and was elected President in 2016. My role of president involves coordinating Council on any decisions regarding the society, working to make sure our biannual symposium finds a host and is well organized, and working with society matters and meetings at and between our symposia.
In my day job, I’m a Senior Scientist at
the St. Croix Watershed Research Station, an environmental research station of
the Science Museum of Minnesota. I also have adjunct academic appointments at
the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa that allow me to work
with graduate students and teach the annual Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms
at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. My research on diatoms has centered on three broad
areas. Life histories have long attracted my research efforts, from the
cytology and mechanics of sexual reproduction, life history adaptations, to how
the diatom life history influences ecology. Diatoms are also excellent
ecological and paleoecological indicators, and my work has addressed lake nutrient
criteria, management targets, anthropogenic and climate response, and landscape
evolution. Finally, large and ancient lakescapes present unique ecological
settings for diatom diversity, but also are some of the most sensitive to
environmental change. Taxonomy bridges all of these areas and I am a
contributor and on the Editorial Review Board of the important web site DOTUS—Diatomsof the United States.
I’ve happily watched the ISDR evolve to become
today’s society serving the needs of the world’s diatomist community. Our
journal has moved to a major publisher, larger format, with a significant
increase in impact factor. We’ve worked to establish a stronger presence on the
web and social media, and most importantly a group of young diatomists has taken
up the torch to ensure that the society and diatom research has a strong
future. You can read a short history of the society and symposia at: https://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.127.1.4
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Young ISDR