Schweppe Lecture Series

What does the world look like in a drop of seawater? How do microscopic creatures interact in nature? The answers to these questions can help us better understand what processes are behind the appearance of a coastal algal bloom or the persistence of high concentrations of certain species at a particular depth in the ocean.  New holographic instruments have been developed to provide an unprecedented 3-D microscopic view of these environments.   For the first time, we can track hundreds of individuals simultaneously, with the ability to obtain detailed video along each individual's path and explore the world as a plankter "sees" it. I will show how plankton respond to one another and their environment, both in the laboratory and in the field, hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface.