Researchers from St John’s Island National Marine Lab and the Tropical Marine Science Institute, Dr Sandric Leong and Ms Emily Curren are in the news for their research! The full story can be found here: http://news.nus.edu.sg/press-releases/toxic-bacteria-on-microplastics-tropical.
Her research at TMSI focused on biofouling and corals before she headed to the University of Western Australia to pursue her post-graduate studies. Her PhD thesis investigated the effects of climate change on tropical fish growth. After graduation, Joyce joined Rutgers University as a Postdoctoral Associate, researching on the causes and consequences of ecological synchrony in California’s marine ecosystem.
[Seminar] Fishy tales from the lord of the rings Read More »
Anthropogenic marine litter pollution is a serious issue facing oceans worldwide. Limited data exists on this pollution issue for South Pacific Island nations. This study presents the first extensive baseline survey of macro-sized marine litter on Mo’orea (0.75 items m-2) and Tahiti (0.95 items m-2), French Polynesia. Locally sourced land-based catchments accounted for the greatest amount of recovered marine litter on both islands. Beverage containers and associated items, such as caps were commonly recovered. Further studies conducted on Mo’orea, demonstrated that micro-litter was prevalent (3.84 items m-2) in beach sands and that 22% of surveyed holothurians had ingested microplastics.
Recent calculations estimate that there are currently 5.25 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world’s oceans. Many of these are microplastics. The purpose of this ongoing study is to investigate how microplastics are distributed in two different marine environments: deep-sea canyons, and nearshore estuaries. To discover whether microplastics are concentrated in these environments, I analyzed microplastics in sediments from Norfolk Canyon and the adjacent continental slope; and the Coos Bay Estuary and the adjacent continental shelf. Sediment samples were taken with a box core and a ponger grab. I submerged sediment in saturated solutions of sodium iodide for floatation. I removed the supernatant to extract plastics through optical microscopy.
[Seminar] Microplastic Debris in Deep-Sea Canyon, Estuarine, and Shoreline Sediments Read More »
In conjunction with the International Conference on Plastics in the Marine Environment 2018, we are inviting several internationally renowned scientists to share with the public about their work in the UK, US and Canada, followed by a tour of the Beneath Tide, Running Forest exhibition on Friday, 7th December 2018, 7pm.
This public event is organised by the National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, and the National University of Singapore.
[Public Event] Ocean Plastics Pollution Read More »
Microplastics (<5mm) have been found in nearly all environments on earth and studies have been documented plastic ingestion by a wide range of marine biota. Rhiannon will be covering several topics surrounding this emerging environmental contaminant including sources, fate and effects of microplastics and what Ocean Wise is doing to research this environmental contaminant.
[Seminar] Perspectives from the Canadian Environmental Microplastics Facility Read More »
Registration is now open for the ASEAN Marine Conservation Workshop on 28th November 2018, 9am – 1pm. Organised and jointly funded by the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, and the Marine Science Research and Development Programme, National Research Foundation.
[Workshop] ASEAN Marine Conservation Workshop Read More »
Date: Friday, 22nd November 2018,
Time: 12PM – 5PM.
By invitation only.
For more information, please contact sjinml@nus.edu.sg.
[Alert] Annual Research Stakeholders Meeting 2018 Read More »
Globally, some eight million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the ocean every year, killing marine life and entering the human food chain. Five Asian nations account for 60% of the waste entering our oceans. The ubiquitous spread of plastic waste into every part of the marine environment has captured the attention of academics, industries, environmentalists, and the public. Plastic debris and animals killed by the ingestion of plastic capture the daily struggle of the world’s ocean ecosystems. The massive scale of this problem threatens our food security and sustainability.
We are excited to announce the acquisition of a new Pulse Amplitude Modulation Unit, Diving PAM II, available for all registered users!
There will be a demonstration of the equipment on Tuesday, 30 October 2018 at 2.30pm.
The Diving PAM II is an underwater chlorophyll fluorometer, designed for the examination of photosynthesis in water up to 50m. It measures chlorophyll A fluorescence in photosystem II underwater plants such as sea grasses, macroalgae, and zooxanthellae in corals.
[New Equipment] Diving PAM II Read More »
