SCOR Workshop: The Biology and Biogeochemistry of Planktonic Foraminifera

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Planktonic foraminifera are arguably the most important carriers of near surface paleoceanographic information available to the geoscience community. The ability to reconstruct past climate states and to predict the impact of the functioning of foraminifera under changing oceanic conditions in the past and future depends on a complete understanding of their ecology, biology, physiology and the mechanisms by which they incorporate geochemical tracers into their calcite shells. In the last quarter century, researchers have published experimental results as well as observations on the biology/ecology of this group of planktonic organisms but the publications are detailed in many different journals that encompass fields as diverse as Marine Geology, Ecology and Genetics. These publications highlight the advances made in our ability to grow planktonic foraminifera in the laboratory. Conducting controlled geochemical experiments on living micro-organisms has both calibrated existing paleoceanographic proxies and produced new geochemical tools that can tease out novel information from the fossil record.This award provides travel support for students and young researchers to participate in a symposium and training workshop on the biology and biogeochemistry of planktonic foraminifera. The proposed symposium/workshop will bring together international specialists in the fields of planktonic foraminifera biology, ecology, geochemistry and laboratory culturing to discuss new techniques and results and train the next generation of young scientists how to grow and conduct experiments on these planktonic protists. Funds also cover the costs of laboratory rental for the duration of the workshop. This is a unique opportunity for the U.S. graduate/postdoc community to get trained in the state of the art techniques and tools that are being used/developed in different laboratories around the world. Video-recorded symposium lectures and synthesis materials will be made available to all participants and the community at large through an open access web site and open source e-book. The symposium/workshop will also provide a forum to disseminate the specialized techniques needed to conduct future experiments on planktonic foraminifera. The symposium/workshop will be held in conjunction with a Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group (138) in the summer of 2015.