Northwest Algal and Seagrass Symposium: A focus on algal biofuels

藻类是利用阳光和大气二氧化碳可持续生产液体生物燃料的一个有前途的未来平台。学术界、政府和私营部门为在美国建立藻类生物燃料产业而开展的研究活动和投资迅速增长。为了推动这一新兴领域的科学原理向前发展，迫切需要具有藻类和海草在水生环境中的生物多样性和生态意义方面专业知识的藻类学家与科学家和工程师一起进行利用藻类制造生物燃料的研究。 为此，2016年西北藻类和海草研讨会（NWASS）将于2016年5月6日至8日在华盛顿惠德贝岛的凯西会议中心举行。 本次会议将赞助来自太平洋西北地区的社区学院和研究型大学等各种学术机构的50名学生参加研讨会，作为参与者，海报展示者和演讲者。藻类学是藻类和水生植物的科学研究。 自1984年以来，西北藻类研讨会一直是一个独特的论坛，汇集了许多生物科学学科，包括海洋生物学，微生物学，生态学，从学术和政府机构在太平洋西北地区，地理区域跨越北方加州阿拉斯加的藻类学家。 为期三天的研讨会将有两个主题报告，口头报告和海报展示。 第一组介绍将概述西北太平洋地区藻类和海草多样性的现状，第二组介绍将重点介绍西北太平洋地区各机构目前在藻类生物燃料研究方面所做的努力。 演讲将主要由学生和博士后研究助理提供。专题讨论会将不举行平行会议，但每次发言的时间将有限，以便在非正式的支持性环境中最大限度地参与和接触。 太平洋西北部是许多北美藻类和海洋植物生物多样性最高的地区的所在地。 NWASS的一个独特之处是会议位于太平洋沿岸沿着的几个海洋科学站和公园。 作为研讨会活动的一部分，藻类学家和藻类生物燃料科学家将参加实地考察，亲自动手收集样品，观察自然环境中的藻类。 这些建立关系的互动将促进未来的合作，导致藻类研究界与藻类生物燃料研究界更紧密的联系。

Algae are a promising future platform for the sustainable production of liquid biofuels from sunlight and atmospheric carbon dioxide. There is rapidly growing research activity and investment by academia, government and the private sector to establish an algal biofuels industry in the United States. To move the scientific principles underlying this emerging area forward, there is a strong need for phycologists with expertise in the biodiversity and ecological significance of algae and seagrasses in aquatic environments to come together with scientists and engineers that conduct research on using algae to make biofuels. Towards, this end, the 2016 Northwest Algal and Seagrass Symposium (NWASS) will be held from May 6-8, 2016 at the Casey Conference Center, Whidbey Island, Washington. This conference award will sponsor 50 students from a diversity of academic institutions ranging from community colleges to research universities in the Pacific Northwest to attend the symposium as participants, poster presenters, and speakers.Phycology is the scientific study of algae and aquatic plants. Since 1984, the Northwest Algal Symposium has been a unique forum to bring together phycologists from many bioscience disciplines, including marine biology, microbiology, ecology, from both academic and government institutions in Pacific Northwest, a geographic area spanning northern California to Alaska. The three-day symposium will have two keynote presentations, oral presentations, and poster presentations. The first set of presentations will overview the current state of algae and seagrass diversity in the Pacific Northwest, and the second set will highlight current efforts in algal biofuel research at institutions in the Pacific Northwest. The presentations will be delivered principally by students and post-doctoral research associates. The symposium will not have parallel sessions, but each presentation will be limited in time to maximize participation and engagement in an informal, supportive environment. The Pacific Northwest is home to many of the highest zones of biodiversity for algae and marine plants in North America. A unique aspect of NWASS is that the conference is situated several marine science stations and parks along the Pacific coast. As part of the symposium activities, phycologists and algal biofuel scientists will participate in field trips with hands-on sample collection activities to see algae in their natural environment. These relationship-building interactions will facilitate future collaborations, leading to a closer connection of the phycological research community with the algal biofuels research community.