BIOCONTAM "Marine food webs and BIOlogical mechanisms for the transfer of CONTAMinants" is organising a Summer School on "Marine food webs and BIOlogical mechanisms for the transfer of CONTAMinants". 5 at 9 June 2023 in Marseille (Endoume Marine Station & Océanomed Luminy).
The study of marine food webs and the biological mechanisms by which contaminants are transferred represents a major international management challenge for the DCSMM. These studies are the subject of research projects at MIO, including the ANR CONTAMPUMP project, which is proposing a test phase of the BIOCONTAM project in June 2023.
To better understand the integration of contaminants in marine systems, it is essential to consider the first levels of the food web and the biological mechanisms of assimilation and trophic transfer linked to the functioning of the food web using multidisciplinary approaches.
There are currently no courses dedicated to this theme in the OSU Pytheas/AMU training programmes, and this international summer school is proposing new teaching content to promote the attractiveness of hybrid training.
The aim of the BIOCONTAM international summer school is to develop new trans- and multidisciplinary training approaches on environmental challenges and anthropogenic impacts of interest for the development of new knowledge, tools and skills for students and young researchers:
- To supplement their training with more specific notions of the taxonomy of certain groups of plankton and benthos (in addition to the general knowledge of systematics that they have been able to acquire in their marine bachelor's and marine science master's degrees);
- Acquire the tools and skills needed to link specific and functional diversity through the study of food webs;
- To develop a new multidisciplinary approach combining biology, trophic ecology and the chemistry of contaminants, providing a better understanding of the biological mechanisms by which contaminants are transferred to the marine environment.
- Discover new research methodologies linked to innovative sampling/analysis developed in current and recent projects (MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE, ANR CONTAPUMP, ZOO-INDEX, RAP-MED, etc.).
A five-day programme of practical work and theoretical courses is being offered to 20 French students. The programme covers the taxonomy of certain pelagic and benthic groups, tools and indicators of food webs and contaminant transfer processes from primary producers to predators, as well as examples of the results of research programmes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea with management applications.
Programme
- Day 1 - Introduction. Presentation of phytoplankton and zooplankton taxonomic groups and analysis methods: flow cytometry on the SLAMM platform, planktonoscope, zooscan. Practical work (SME)
- Day 2 - Presentation of the taxonomic groups of benthos organisms (focus on sponges) and fish (teleosts) and methods for analysing stomach contents. Practical work (SME)
- Day 3 - Visit to the fish market in the Old Port. Evening film screening and seafood tasting with a presentation on sustainable marine cuisine (PME)
- Day 4 - Course on the compartments of food webs (phytoplankton, zooplankton, invertebrates, fish) and more generally on the study of food webs using different approaches (taxonomy, stomach contents, stable isotopes, lipid markers, trophic modelling). (Oceanomed, hybrid)
- Day 5 - Course on the biological transfer mechanisms of metallic and organic contaminants between seawater and marine organisms. Transfer of knowledge on certain results and methods from the Merite-Hippocampe and ANR Contampump projects. (Oceanomed, hybrid)
Visit to the MIO laboratories and the SAM, PRECYM, MIM, PACEM and MACROPHYTES platforms (Oceanomed).
Hybrid courses The conference will be held face-to-face for French students and participants in Marseille (MIO, Océanomed) and by videoconference for students from Ovidius University in Constanta, Romania (in English).
To register, send your CV and covering letter to Daniela Banaru
We will be selecting 20 of the most motivated students who send in their applications by 15 May 2023 à 20h00.
