Titled Ocean Warriors, this outstanding picture of a coccolithophore is likely one of the 12 finalists within the 2024 Beaker Avenue Science Images Prize and was chosen as a result of it reveals the scientific worth of specialised digital camera gear or photographic processes.
The picture was taken by Luke Brokensha, who’s a analysis fellow and plankton ecologist with the Institute For Marine And Antarctic Research on the College Of Tasmania in Hobart. It was taken utilizing a Scanning Electron Microscope, from a pattern collected by the Southern Ocean Steady Plankton Recorder program (SO-CPR).
The picture reveals Calcidiscus leptoporus – a coccolithophore discovered drifting within the Southern Ocean. Coccolithophores are single-celled organisms which carry out photosynthesis for the creation of vitality, which in flip produces the oxygen that we breathe. They assemble many intricate plates of armor – made from calcium carbonate – which they cowl themselves with to guard their delicate inside cell from predation. Via their use of photosynthesis and the manufacturing of those shell plates, they’ve change into a major warrior within the struggle towards local weather change, contributing to the organic carbon pump, drawing down carbon dioxide from the ambiance to be recycled or saved within the ocean depths.
Brokensha’s analysis is targeted across the Steady Plankton Recorder program for the Southern Ocean (SO-CPR), funded by IMOS (Built-in Marine Observing System). This program samples the plankton discovered within the floor waters between the Australian and Antarctic continents. The info is used to trace and map traits and adjustments to plankton communities via time and assess the impacts of local weather change on the Southern Ocean. In his spare time, Luke is a eager climber, hiker, surfer, and canoeist; benefiting from the numerous outside adventures that Tasmania has to supply.
Beaker Avenue’s annual Science Images Prize invitations all Tasmanians to showcase the wonders of the world of science and scientists. The Beaker Avenue Pageant presents a program of science-infused leisure and discussions. The competition precinct spans Hobart’s cultural and leisure precincts, together with the Metropolis Corridor, the Tasmanian Museum And Artwork Gallery, the Hope & Anchor Tavern, the Outdated Mercury Constructing in Salamanca, together with a lot of Hobart’s greatest pubs, bars and eating places. Subsequent yr’s competition will run from August 12-19 2025. For extra particulars go to www.beakerstreet.com.au.
To see extra of the finalists within the Beaker Avenue Science Images Prize go to www.beakerstreet.com.au/photography-prize.
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