FlowCam - Flow Imaging Microscopy Blog

After a two-year break, the American Water Works Association's ACE Conference will be hosted in-person in San Antonio, Texas, from June 12th - 15th. The conference brings together water sector professionals from around the country to learn about new technologies and techniques in water quality monitoring, mitigation strategies, and overcoming engineering challenges. 

Scientists from around the world have been using FlowCam for over 20 years to better understand the ecosystems in our lakes, rivers, and oceans.

As new research is published, we continue to review the literature where FlowCam is utilized for essential and innovative studies in aquatic research. The publications included in our most recent list showcase important FlowCam applications in marine and freshwater research.

This May, nine aquatic science organizations will come together in person to host the largest aquatic science conference in history. The 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting "is designed to bring together deep, multidisciplinary subject-matter expertise to collaboratively educate one another and solve the complex environmental problems facing our society and our planet today".

FlowCam user, Jochen Wollschläger, of Germany's University of Oldenburg, recently returned from a research trip aboard the RV METEOR as part of the FjordFlux Cruise in the Beagle Channel, at the southernmost tip of Chile and Argentina. The goal of the expedition was to utilize the fjords of Patagonia to better understand how climate change will affect similar environments in Antarctica. Carried out in the context of the DYNAMO Project, the cruise was a cooperation between Germany, Chile, and Argentina. 

The FlowCam Aquatic Research Equipment & Travel Grant is now accepting applications for the 2022-23 academic year. This popular equipment grant, now in its 5th year, provides an opportunity for graduate students and undergraduate faculty members to apply for the use of a FlowCam instrument for the semester of their choice, plus funding to attend a conference to present their work.

Pictured here:  2020 award recipient Savannah Mapes, a graduate student in the Reece Lab at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), using a FlowCam 8100.

Graduate applicants are eligible for a FlowCam 8000 (8100 or 8400) and undergraduate applicants are eligible for a FlowCam 5000.

Each year the FlowCam Aquatic Research Equipment & Travel Grant is awarded to two recipients: a graduate-level researcher and an undergraduate faculty member to enrich a particular course or to support a student doing independent research. The winners each receive a FlowCam instrument to use for up to 4 months, plus remote training, technical support, software licenses, and funding to present at a major scientific conference.

The 2022 FlowCam Aquatic Research Equipment & Travel Grant is now accepting submissions. Learn more about the program and how to apply at the link above.

The recently launched FlowCam Nano extends well-established flow imaging microscopy technology for subvisible particle analysis into the submicron size range. With its unique ability to capture images and analyze particles from 300 nm to 2 µm in diameter, FlowCam Nano technology offers the ability to bridge the gap between different particle analysis techniques. 

FlowCam was originally invented at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (BLOS) in 1997 by Chris Sieracki, and at the time, it represented the world’s first imaging flow cytometer. It revolutionized the tedious and slow process of manual examination of phytoplankton via microscopy by providing a semi-automated method to rapidly count, measure, and analyze individual cells and particles in a fluid sample using digital images.  

In early January, the Algal Bloom Action Team, a collaboration of water professionals, researchers, and educators from twelve states in the North Central Region of the United States is hosting its 2nd annual Virtual Harmful Algal Bloom Research Symposium. Team members include the national network of Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRI), the North Central Region Water Network, and university extensions within each state in the North Central Region. The free-to-attend symposium will bring together researchers from across the US to present and discuss the latest developments in HAB research and outreach. Presentations will cover four different topics:

• HAB Monitoring and Ecology
• Cyanotoxin Treatment and Detection
• Forecasting and Modeling HABs
• Emerging Technology for Detecting and Monitoring HABs

The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) recently received long-awaited funding to purchase a FlowCam Cyano instrument, after first learning about FlowCam at an east coast workshop a few years ago. CTCLUSI makes up three tribes (4 bands) who all reside in close proximity to one another along the Coos River Tributaries in Oregon. According to the CTCLUSI website:

Harmful algal blooms can have a detrimental effect on the environment and on human and animal health. As a result of climate change, water utilities are experiencing these events with increasing frequency. Historically, many water monitoring agencies have not had a plan in place to proactively monitor for cyanobacteria, but rather found themselves reacting to the effects of a bloom after the fact.

Last month, the US EPA released a report that addresses concerns within the agency about the lack of a cohesive, agency-wide plan to monitor freshwater bodies for harmful algal blooms (HABs):