POL scientists Podcast - Fish Food

9 June 2009

POL scientist Dr Jonathan Sharples was interviewed by environmental research news website Planet Earth Online. The interview concerned Phytoplankton which are tiny single-celled plants found throughout the world's oceans. Although they're small, they're crucial, because they provide food for the rest of the marine food chain.

Plankton visible through a microscope.

A glass of water from the Mersey can contain around a million phytoplankton. But like bacteria, they are too small to see with the naked eye. Researchers can see individual cells only with a powerful microscope (see image above). But during the spring, phytoplankton grow into massive blooms, which can be tracked from space.

The interview which can listened to via a podcast off the Planet Earth Online site (see link below) was with science writer and broadcaster Sue Nelson. In the interview Dr Sharples talks about the continental shelf off the west coast of Britain and why the shelf is so important.

Go to the Planet Earth Online site to hear the interview in full via a Podcast “

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Notes

The Proudman Oceanographic (POL) scientific research focuses on oceanography encompassing global sea-levels and geodesy, numerical modelling of continental shelf seas and coastal sediment processes. This research alongside activities of surveying, monitoring, data management and forecasting provides strategic support for the wider mission of the Natural Environment Research Council.

As a public funded body it is part of our remit to inform the public of the science and research undertaken at the laboratory. Attending events like the 'Ocean Awareness Weekend' at the Blue Planet Aquarium offers the opportunity for our scientists to meet members of the public and present the laboratory's work.

The Natural Environment Research Council is one of the UK's eight Research Councils. It uses a budget of about £ 350m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind, such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.