Diatom of the Month April 2019 - Public (Un)awareness of Diatoms
by Shelly Wu* Shelly Wu explains to us how her research may educate the general public about diatoms in a variety of learning environments: the power of teaching beyond the classrooms! As diatomists, we are thrilled by the wonders of diatoms. It is no secret to us that they produce anywhere from 25-40% of the oxygen that we breathe 1 (yet, trees get all or most of the credit) and sustain aquatic food webs 2 . We value the numerous uses of diatoms such as biofuel production 3 , commercial use in household products 4 , forensic science 5 , and water quality assessment 6 . We also admire the remnants of their glass cell walls in artistic arrangements 7 . Although we know their inherent worth, the general public often does not and so we are asked: “What is a diatom”? Over the years, I began to wonder why diatoms are not well known to the general public. I began my search for diatom information in practition...