ZOOM in: Phytoplankton

Have you ever heard of dinoflagellates? Or of golden algae? Did you know that the phytoplankton of the oceans absorbs about as much carbon dioxide as the land plants on the continents? That's why it plays an important role in regulating our climate. But phytoplankton is not only found in the oceans, the pond near you is also full of it! In our research group, we don't just deal with dandelions, arnica and son on, but also with tiny, free-floating single- and multi-cellular plants - phytoplankton.

We are exploring the possibilities of using artificial intelligence to enable their identification to such an extent that anyone with a small, simple pocket microscope and a smartphone can assess the quality of a body of water on the basis of the phytoplankton species that occur in it. Water quality assessment from your pocket, so to speak. Our phytoplankton expert will be there to take a close look with you under the microscope and to show you how important it is to know these miniature plants better.