SGER: Acquisition and Testing of Flow CAM for Plankton Research

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9817804StromThis Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) project involves the acquisition of the newly developed Flow Cytometer and Microscope (FlowCAM), and initial testing by the ocean science community. The FlowCAM has the potential to greatly enhance on-going research in at least three funded projects at the Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC), thus making the Center a good site for the early "user community" testing of the FlowCAM. FlowCAM has been designed to examine planktonic algal and protozoan populations in relatively dilute suspensions. It combines scattering and fluorescence information with video analysis of cells passing the imaging path by using a novel lens which allows automated imaging of single cells in a broad focal plane. It allows quick and accurate counts of cell populations, it obtains size spectra, and examines fluorescent properties during grazing experiments at realistically low cell concentrations.