Dr. Stella A. Berger is Head of the Phytoplankton Ecology Research Group at the IGB – Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin.
Abstract:
Dr. Berger will focus on experimental winter limnology. Empirical data on how changing ice conditions affect aquatic food-web dynamics is limited, partly by lack of ice-resistant ecosystem-scale experimental platforms. However, in winter 2017-18 ice cover timing, duration and quality were successfully manipulated in the very large in-lake enclosures of the IGB LakeLab facility. This opens new opportunities to study effects of changing winter conditions on lake ecology.

Dr. Jens C. Nejstgaard is Head of the Zooplankton Ecology Research Group at the IGB – Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin.
Abstract:
Dr. Nejstgaard will present a rapid cost-effective approach to study mesozooplankton in its undisturbed natural environment at very high spatial resolution. The Mini Deep-focus Plankton Imager (MDPI) shadowgraph system combined with automated deep learning approaches reveals vertical position of individual mesozooplankton at cm-scale. As the MDPI further show a higher sampling efficiency than conventional methods it alleviates several bottlenecks in present zooplankton science.

After the seminar (ca. 16:00 h), everyone is welcome to join us for drinks and munchies in the „coffee corner on the second floor“.