ISU Paleolimnology Laboratory

07/28/2024

Fossil separation valve of Aulacoseira from a lake in Vietnam.

03/31/2024

Thalassiosira lacustris (which Jenna refers to as “Blobbo”) from Otter Creek, near the former site of the Markle Mill Dam. Jenna is researching the effects of removing low-head dams on the aquatic ecosystem - including diatoms, turtles, and crayfish.

03/12/2024

A Stephanodiscus with some pretty neat areolae from the Great Lakes - part of a larger project to explore the Stephanodiscus species from the system (with several people from Euan’s lab group).

03/11/2024

Valve face of an Ellerbeckia arenaria (diatom) in the SEM. Ellerbeckia are often found in long colonies attached to rocky substrates.

12/20/2023

Hello friends! We hereby announce the Diatoms Winter Solstice Party. Here you have all the links to register:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20231221T200000&p1=396&p2=248&p3=176&p4=310&p5=541&p6=189&p7=1243
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20231222T140000&p1=396&p2=248&p3=176&p4=310&p5=541&p6=189&p7=1243

It's free and we are going to have a great time!
We will do activities and share time with diatomologists from all over the world. Come and join us! It doesn't matter if you are not a member of ISDR. Everybody is welcome!😜🙊✨❄️🔔🌲🔬💡🎇

Find the exact time difference with the Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator which converts the time difference between places and time zones all over the world.

09/20/2023

PUBLICATION: Diatoms of Montana and western North America by Loren Bahls

https://diatoms.org/news/publication-diatoms-of-montana-and-western-north-america

07/26/2023

Another guest from the wedding in SEM.

07/22/2023

It's Thalassiosira lacustris in SEM with a couple of different color schemes. I collected the sample at my nephew's wedding. Processed it and imaged it. And then colorized it. Enjoy!

You can see the LM version at the best place to look at diatoms in North America:
https://diatoms.org/species/thalassiosira_lacustris

07/13/2023

I have been invited to be involved with a science outreach event in Portugul for a project called BlueNIGHTs. The researcher who is leading the event saw some of my SEM images of Twitter and Instagram and asked if I would contribute to the event.

The program has a series of science cafés with scientists at night and during the day they have a small research fair, with several labs showing what they do and also some science & arts activities targeting the local schools (from the pre-school to the secondary school levels - about 500 students).

The program also includes an exhibition with big printed panels and apparently it will feature about a dozen of my science art images blown up on very large poster boards. I am also going to make an appearance (virtually) at one of the cafes for some question/answer time.

Here's a link for anyone who might be able to attend and interested https://bluenights.eu/

07/11/2023

A few diatoms I found from some samples I collected during my nephew's wedding (he got married standing in a river).

04/21/2023

https://www.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.593.1.1

Morphological and molecular characterization of twenty-five new Diploneis species (Bacillariophyta) from Lake Tanganyika and its surrounding areas

03/04/2023

https://www.escubed.org/articles/10.3389/esss.2023.10065/full

Our most recent paper with John Dilworth as the lead author discusses the influence of humans on the history of Jackson Lake, Wyoming. John is a PhD student advised by Michael McGlue, who we've been working with for a few years now. We're excited to see these results published - it's his first diatom-related publication.

Jackson Lake supplies valuable cultural and provisioning ecosystem services to the Upper Snake River watershed in Wyoming and Idaho (western USA). Construction of Jackson Lake Dam in the early 20th century raised lake level by ∼12 m, generating an important water resource supporting agriculture a...