We offer you a rare chance to learn about the mysteries of our oceans with an expert marine scientist. Dr Patrick De Deckker from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences will be leading a presentation and workshop to help us appreciate the nature of the microscopic life off our coasts and how important it is to drive the carbon cycle and oceanic food webs.

On Wednesday November 18th Patrick will give us a presentation and workshop to introduce us to the amazing diversity of plankton we find here.

There will be a powerpoint presentation outlining the main groups of zooplankton to be found near the coast in the western Tasman Sea. The importance of zoo- and phyto-plankton will then be discussed in terms of the carbon and silica cycle and a brief overview of food webs will also be described. This presentation will be followed by the discussion of a simple identification key to enable us to determine principal plankton groups. Afterwards, the group will be shown how to use binocular microscopes and separate the various taxonomic groups into petri dishes. This is a rare opportunity to learn from one of our expert scientist friends. His presentation is enlightening and the identification of plankton will be a guided exploration into the unknown realms of microscopic ocean life.

Location to be advised nearer the time. Please contact libby@atlasoflife.org.au T:02 6495 0917 for further information or to reserve a place. Spaces are limited so please do let us know that you are interested.