Tropical Field Phycology Workshop, Bocas del Toro Research Station, Panama, July 2008

http://striweb.si.edu/taxonomy_training/past_courses/2008/2008_phycology.html . This videoclip shows students who were enrolled in the Tropical Field Phycology Workshop held at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) at Bocas del Toro, Caribbean Panama, 9-23 July 2008, at work in the laboratory.

The aim of this course was designed to orient participants to the biodiversity of tropical marine floras through field and laboratory work. Specifically, it emphasized the development or enhancement of practical skills essential for identification, characterization and preservation of tropical marine macroalgae (seaweeds). Sampling forays in diverse environments (e.g., mangrove habitats, seagrass beds, coral reefs, sponge communities) on protected and exposed shorelines throughout the Bocas del Toro Archipelago complemented morphological and molecular investigations in the laboratory.

Funding was made possible by a grant from the Smithsonian's Marine Science Network, with additional support from the National Science Foundation's Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories Program, the NSF Partnership for the Enhancement of Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) Program, and the Smithsonian's Institution's DNA Barcode Initiative.

The Workshop was organized by Rachel Collin (STRI); lectures on barcoding were provided by Amy Driskell (Smithsonian Institution); and the Phycology lectures were given by Brian Wysor (Roger Williams University), Wilson Freshwater (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) and Suzanne Fredericq (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Videoclip montage by S. Fredericq in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Additional information about the Bocas del Toro research Station can be viewed at: http://www.stri.org/english/research/facilities/marine/bocas_del_toro/ .

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