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GreenSeas Summer School: 27th Jan – 3rd Feb 2013
GreenSeas Summer School: Global plankton data: ecosystems,
monitoring and modelling in an era of global warming
University
of
Capetown/
Africa
House,
Capetown, South Africa
Funding provided through European Union. Please
quote grant number 265294 in all work associated
with associated with material / outputs from this
summer school.
Climate change is arguably the greatest challenge facing mankind in the
twenty-first century. The inherent processes, feedback mechanisms and
interactions, can have unprecedented and dramatic impacts on marine
ecology. Phytoplankton is a key component of the marine ecosystem,
fixing atmospheric carbon and providing the primary food source for the
zooplankton, together forming the base of the oceanic food chain. It is
thus necessary to advance our quantitative knowledge of how planktonic
marine ecosystems, will respond to environmental and climate change.
During the GreenSeas Summer School students will learn how to employ
a
combination
of
observation
data,
environmental
indicators
and
numerical simulations to obtain an integrated, cross-disciplinary, globalin-scope understanding of global planktonic ecosystems and their role in a
global information service, of further importance for assessment of
environmental pressures and risks, including tensions and conflicts related
to the depletion of natural resources.
In particular the summer school will include:.

Processes and dynamics of planktonic ecosystems

Sampling and analysis techniques

Analysis of in situ data and data management

Advanced statistical data and time series analysis

Remote sensing techniques and environmental indicators

Ocean modelling and data assimilation

Integrated use of in situ, remote sensing data and simulations
involving theoretical lectures, practical exercises and computational case
studies.
The summer school is primarily aimed at PhD students late in their term
and early career researchers.
Summer school student : pre course preparation
On the evening of 28th Jan 19:00 we will hold an oral e-poster session and
supper / bar at All Africa House.
Can each student prepare three slides in the format attached that gives
a) Student background,
b) current & recent personal research back ground &
c) research question(s) to ask / explore during the summer school.
Each student will have a 5 minute presentation slot to present this
material to the summer school students and lecturers on the evening of
28th Jan.
Please contact Kjetil Lygre ([email protected]) for summer school
organization aspects and John Bruun ([email protected]) for academic
program information.
Summer School lecturers
Marie-Fanny Racault is an Earth Observation scientist at PML. Her background is
in marine biology. During her PhD, she established the phenology of phytoplankton
in the global oceans and investigated its inter-annual and long-term variability in
relation with climatic mode of variability. Marie’s research interests include
interannual/long-term variation in phytoplankton and its impact on the global
carbon cycle; influence of climate processes on the lower trophic level;
development and implementation of ecological indicators of the pelagic ecosystem; marine
science-policy integration and use of remote-sensing observations in support of responsible
stewardships of the world oceans. During the summer school, she will be lecturing on remote
sensing observations and indicators of pelagic ecosystems. [email protected]
Trevor Platt is an oceanographer with many years' experience studying the
structure and function of the pelagic ecosystem. His other interests include
international marine science coordination and capacity building. His recent research
has dealt with the application of data from visible spectral radiometry (remotelysensed ocean colour) to problems in biological oceanography and fisheries.
Ingrid Angel-Benavides is an oceanographer at the Institute of Oceanography of
the Federal University of Rio Grande (Brazil). She has experience in ocean color
remote sensing, in situ bio-optical measurements and validation of satellite
products. Her current research is focused on the influence of mesoscale eddies on
phytoplankton dynamics.
Howard Waldron (PhD) is Senior Lecturer with interests in physico-biological
oceanography,
phytoplankton
nutrient
dynamics,15Nitrogen
uptake
and
regeneration, carbon sequestration and water quality analyses. He is affiliated
with the research programmes Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT), Southern
Ocean Biogeochemistry, Education and Research, Southern Ocean Carbon and
Climate Observatory, GreenSeas Research Programme – Climate change;
Estuarine N and P dynamics; Benguela Ecosystems – Shelf edge exchange processes, [email protected]
Richard Bellerby is a Senior Researcher and Research Coordinator at the
Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and adjunct professor at the
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Uni Research, University of Bergen. His
research is on marine elemental cycling using relationships and combined
feedbacks from the physical environment (CO2 gas exchange, transport, water
mass transformations) with those of biogeochemical (marine stoichiometry, redox)
and of biological nature (planktonic systems, energy flow). Through this combined approach it is
possible to begin to understand how marine systems will evolve and influence global carbon
biogeochemical cycling and thus climate. His approach is to use interpretations of the natural
ocean system from ocean going expeditions, in situ observation platforms, ocean models and
global datasets; deliberate perturbation experiments, taking the natural ocean out of its
contemporary framework, regional coupled physical-chemical-ecosystem and global ocean models.
[email protected]
John Bruun is an Environmental Statistician and Modelling Scientist at Plymouth
Marine Laboratory (PML). John is the overall academic coordinator for the summer
school. John holds a strategic role at PML that builds platform of statistical science
in our multi-disciplinary marine research work setting. His research interests cover
applications of linear & non-linear time series methods in the natural sciences,
identifying long & short term climate trends and drivers of the plankton ecosystem,
quantifying risk through extreme value probabilities and quantifying value in global socio-economic
settings. John has a 20 year career with an PhD in Theoretical Physics (Lancaster University)
analysing the statistical properties of disordered systems. He has substantial experience -over ten
years- of developing, lecturing and applying statistical time series methods in the Environment
Sciences research based at Lancaster University. For a further decade - John has been a Global
based manager in a commercial Global FMCG team setting, providing critical value analyses of long
& short term trends based on large time series data sets. A key theme in John's experience is the
development of sound model system identification methods / algorithms that provide practical and
robust applied solutions to the tasks at hand. These methods useful to both evaluate scenarios
linked to value and Socio-economic impacts and future climate driven changes in the
environmental & marine sciences. During the GreenSeas summer school John will explain &
demonstrate-with worked case studies-how we utilise our cross-disciplinary knowledge effectively
through using appropriate statistical tools so we advance our understanding of how the Atlantic
planktonic ecosystem will respond to environmental and climate change. [email protected]
Marcello Vichi holds a PhD in Marine Ecology and Biogeochemistry and has
more than 10 years experience in marine ecosystem modelling in several
regional seas (Adriatic, Baltic, North Sea), in the Mediterranean and in the
global ocean. He is a researcher at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e
Vulcanologia, working at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Changes
(CMCC). He has been participating to several European and Italian research
projects dealing with ocean biogeochemical modelling. He is one of the developers of the
Biogeochemical Flux Model (htpp://bfm.cmcc.it), and of the CMCC Earth System Model. His
research interests embrace numerical modelling of coupled physical/biogeochemical processes in
the global ocean, climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and process studies of
biogeochemical interactions in coastal and shelf seas. [email protected]
Shubha Sathyendranath (a guest lecturer) is an internationally recognized
scientist with outstanding track record in Ocean Colour research activities. She
has coordinated large-scale Ocean Colour research projects for more than 10
years, and is currently scientific leader of the ESA Ocean Colour Climate
Change
Initiative
Project.
Her
research
interests
include
ocean
colour
modelling, spectral characteristics of light penetration underwater, bio-optical
properties of phytoplankton, modelling primary production, bio-geochemical
cycles in the sea, climate change, biological-physical interactions in the marine
system, ecological provinces in the sea, ecological indicators and phytoplantkon functional types.
19:00 + Meet & Greet
Coctail evening, All
Africa House
Sun 27th Jan
Mon 28th Jan
Practical : Numerical
modelling
Lunch
Lecture : continued
Lunch
Coffee Break
analysis tools
19:00 Poster Session + supper /
bar , All Africa House
19:00 Coach to Waterfront &
return 23:00 (to/from All
Africa House). Students own
time.
Lecture: Theory, application and Lecture : Earth Observation
Fundamentals of ocean colour,
assessment of ocean
optics and time series - what we
biogeochemical models
can learn (inc guest speakers)
Coffee Break
Lunch
Student team & Case Study
allocation for Part II of
Summerschool
Practical: Earth observation
Coffee Break
Practical: Earth observation
Wed 30th Jan
20:00 Lamb spit barbecue, All
Africa House
Lecture : Time Series Analysis
Afternoon coach tour to Simons
& data analysis methods
Town & Boulders penguin
colony.
Practical : statistical data
Coffee Break
Coffee Break
Practical : (In-situ) ocean
acidification and climate
change scenarios with focus
on relevance for plankton
Practical : Numerical
modelling
Tue 29th Jan
Lecture : Carbon
biogeochemistry & Plankton
Fundamentals of In-situ
plankton measurement
collection).
Green Seas intro (inc data base
Students own time. Walk
into Rondebosch (pubs &
restaurants)
Student Team Analysis
work on case study: analysis
time
Coffee Break
Student Team Analysis
work on case study :
analysis
Lunch
Analysis Q&A opportunity
with GreenSeas Workshop
(over coffee)
Student Team Analysis
work on case study : data
extraction / exploritory
analysis
Student Team Analysis
work on case study :
establish hypothesis to
investigate
Thur 31st Jan
19:00 Smart/casual dinner &
party (summer school
students & staff), UCT Club
5pm: 2-page case study report
deadline. To include a 1 minute
verbal team summary of finding &
recommendations.
Student Team Analysis work on
case study : assess feedback,
extend analysis to include
feedback.
Progress reports (verbal). Pizzas
and bar, UCT Club.
Coffee Break
Student Team Analysis work on case
study : extend analysis / 2 page
report write-up.
Lunch
Student Team Analysis work on case
study : extend analysis / 2 page
report write-up.
Analysis Q&A opportunity with
remaining GreenSeas reseachers
Student Team Analysis work on case
study : extend analysis / 2 page
report write-up. GreenSeas staff
available to advise during day.
Sat 2nd Feb
Coffee Break
Student team work-in progress
analysis presentations (15 min
each) to GreenSeas workshop
Lunch
Student Team Analysis work on
case study : analysis & 15 min
presentation prep.
Analysis Q&A opportunity with
GreenSeas Workshop (over
coffee)
Student Team Analysis work on
case study : analysis & 15 min
presentation prep.
Fri 1st Feb
Summer School Lecture, Practical & Social Activity Programme :