37th Annual PlyMSEF Medal Lecture

Due to unforeseen circumtances this event has been postponed until 2025.

We will update you with new dates when they become available. 

The 37th PlyMSEF Plymouth Marine Science Medal Lecture, entitled 'Marine picocyanobacteria and the global C cycle – the beauty in small things revealed!' will be given by Dave Scanlan, Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of Warwick. The free lecture is open to all.

Oceans are the ‘beating heart’ of the Earth’s carbon cycle: with ~1 billion tonnes of phytoplankton alive in the ocean at any one time but with 45 billion tonnes of new phytoplankton produced each year, phytoplankton must reproduce themselves entirely roughly once a week. The functioning of this ‘fast’ marine phytoplankton carbon pump (i.e. the fixation of atmospheric CO₂ into biomass and the subsequent sinking and burial of this biomass into the deep ocean) is critical for absorbing and sequestering the increased levels of CO₂ currently entering the atmosphere from anthropogenic input. Cyanobacteria of the genera Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are numerically the most abundant phytoplankton component in ocean systems (and indeed on planet Earth as a whole!) contributing 25% of global oceanic primary production but with this figure increasing to as much as 90% of the total in oligotrophic regions. 

This talk will explain controls on their abundance and activity but also delve into the specific adaptation mechanisms of these tiny marine phototrophs that have helped them successfully dominate ocean ecosystems. 

Doors open from 18:00 for 18:30 start.

This event is brought to you by:  PLYMOUTH MARINE SCIENCE AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION

The Plymouth Marine Science & Education Foundation (PlyMSEF) is a charitable body established to provide funds to enable students and early career scientists to attend scientific conferences and symposia or to attend advanced training courses or workshops in the marine disciplines. 

It also provides funds to promote marine science and related subjects such as public lectures and seminars in Plymouth and an annual research student conference.

Its work is overseen by Trustees from marine organisations across Plymouth:

Marine Biological Association http://www.mba.ac.uk

DDRC Healthcare https://www.ddrc.org/

National Marine Aquarium http://www.national-aquarium.co.uk/

Plymouth Marine Laboratory https://www.pml.ac.uk/

University of Plymouth https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/

Professor Dave Scanlan

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