Thursday, April 4, 2013

USM Microalgae Culture Collection


After several months, we managed to isolate 13 species of microalgae consist of 7 freshwater species and 6 marine species from different environment. It should be enough to start our own microalgae culture collection. The list of the species as stated below :

Freshwater :   

   Chlamydomonas sp.
Chlorococcum sp.
Leptolyngbya sp.
Micractinium sp.
Scenedesmus bijugatus
Synechococcus sp. 
Microcystis sp.

Marine :

Chlorella salina
Cylindrotheca closterium
Isochrysis maritima
Navicula distans
Nitzschia lorenziana
Nitzschia panduriformis


microalgae culture collection in liquid media

 green microalgae

 golden-brown microalgae

 cyanobacteria

diatom


Hopefully, we can add several more species in coming months
cheers.~


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

:: Lab Visit from UiTM students ::


On 27th December 2012 and 7th January 2013, we welcomed Mr. Syazwan and his students from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Penang to our lab to share some information on algae culture for their final year projects.


Mr. Syazwan and his students


 Even though it was a short visit, we hope that the students managed to acquire some knowledge in which they can apply in their project. We are looking forward to our future collaborations; feel free to visit us again next time.

Cheers



:: New Culture Room ::


At last, our micro algae got a new home, and it is definitely bigger than before.


Working chamber


Laminar flow 


Culture racks with fluorescent light


Growth chamber for polar species 


With this new culture room and our existing expertise, we are planning to create our own micro algae culture collection. Hopefully, everything will go according to the plan.

Cheers



:: New Member ::

We, the members of USM Plankton Lab are very happy to welcome Dr. Sharifah as the new member of USM Plankton Lab. We look forward to working with you and we wish you all the best.


Name: Syarifah Rahmah Syed Muhammad
Position: Post Doctoral Fellow
Institution: Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, USM
Research: Fish Nutrition, fish breeding, fish culture

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Monday, December 3, 2012

Field Work at Sedim River & Air Itam River

On 10th November 2012, we were given an opportunity to help 22 undergraduate students with their field work for BAT 201 class (Limnology). We departed from USM at 8.30 am  and headed to Air Itam River in Penang before going to Sedim River in Kedah. There, we measured all parameters (DO, TDS, temperature, velocity, depth, pH, conductivity) at three different areas (shaded area, open area, and under the bridge). We also took water samples triplicate at each area for water quality analysis. 

 Air Itam River

We spent 1 hour at the first location, and by the time we arrived at our second location, it was 11 am.

Sedim River

There, we measured all same parameters at two different areas which were the pool area (deeper, flows at slow velocity & turbulence) and the riffle area ( shallow, flows at high velocity & turbulence).

Students prepared to measure parameters

Once we completed our tasks, we took the opportunity to walk on the Tree Top Walk, the world's longest canopy walk.

Tree Top Walk

River view on Tree Top Walk

memory on Tree Top Walk

At 6.00 pm, we happily went back with a memorable experience.


p/s : more pictures