The 6th Symposium on Harmful Algae

Registration and Abstract submission is OPEN: register

5/31/11: Abstract DEADLINE

8/1/11: Early Registration deadline

The 6th Symposium on Harmful Algae in the US will be convened in Austin, Texas near the University of Texas. We will begin Sunday evening with a Welcome Mixer. Scientific sessions will run Monday-Thursday from 8-4, poster sessions 4- 6  on M & T, Banquet & Dancing Wednesday evening 6:30 – midnight, and Thursday night will be free to enjoy Austin. This Symposium is open to all researchers and managers working on HABs in the US.

Special Session for Graduate Students

On Sunday, prior to the meeting, a graduate student session and dinner will be held. Check back for details

Source: http://oceanz.tamu.edu/~campbell/6thUSHAB/welcome.html

National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is part of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s preeminent museum and research complex. The Museum is dedicated to inspiring curiosity, discovery, and learning about the natural world through its unparalleled research, collections, exhibitions, and education outreach programs. Opened in 1910, the green-domed museum on the National Mall was among the first Smithsonian building constructed exclusively to house the national collections and research facilities.

and here is an interesting project about algae…

Algae Research


Algae are photosynthetic organisms that occur in most habitats. They vary from small, single-celled forms to complex multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length.. The US Algal Collection is represented by almost 300,000 accessioned and inventoried herbarium specimens.

Source: http://botany.si.edu/projects/algae/

Germany trials carbon-eating algae

Germany is often viewed as one of the most advanced countries in the world when it comes to protecting the environment.

The landscape is dotted with wind turbines and many houses have solar panels on the roof. But Germany is also one of the largest energy consumers in the world with its high-powered economy, and much of that energy comes from coal fired power plants.

Dealing with carbon emissions is a big challenge for energy companies and they are getting creative.

European energy giant Vattenfall has installed a greenhouse next to a small plant in the East German town of Senftenberg where a team of scientists headed by Michael Strzodka is trying a new approach.

They are cultivating green algae which they hope will eat the CO2 from the plant.

Janine Thiele, a microbiologist says the concept is fairly simple: “Microalgae grow with photosynthesis, so they need light, they need CO2 and they need some nutrients like other plants.”

The scientists have large tanks filled with algae and nutrients and they take the CO2 emitted from the power plant and put it in the tanks. The algae then turns the CO2 into clean air.

First tests seem promising, the scientists say, but there are still more questions than answers. Power plants emit other gases aside from CO2, like sulfur, and it is possible the sulfur might kill off the algae or at least impede its growth.

But team leader Michael Strzodka says his main concern is whether the process is economically viable: “The issue is: can we use this with an energy balance? Meaning, we must ensure we don’t use more energy in the process than the algae will give us in concentrated biomass.”

It will take at least two years before Strzodka and his team will be able to answer this question.

He says even if the algae solution works it will only help to clean the emissions from small power plants. Larger ones emit so much CO2 it would take massive amounts of algae to do the same job.

The “Green Mission” project at Senftenberg is still in its early stages. Scientists are testing the effectiveness of different species of microalgae. Their next step will be to examine the best uses for algae biomass. It could be used for energy, as an ingredient in animal feed, or algae lipids could be extracted to produce industrial grease.

Other energy companies, like Germany’s RWE, are also experimenting with the technology.

The scientists at the green house in Senftenberg believe their algae could be a part of a solution to carbon emissions. Vattenfall is also exploring carbon storage technology where emissions are pumped into large tanks and then pressed into geological formations.

Both the algae technology and carbon storage are still years away from having an impact on emissions, but as Germany moves away from nuclear energy, Markus Sauthoff, an executive with Vattenfall says cleaner coal energy will become more important: “As long as there is coal, it will be used — and we can decide how we use it.”

Michael Strzodka and his team of scientists say they are just trying to achieve the next step, a bigger set of algae tanks to expand their research. He says he hopes one day the little green plants might help offer a solution to one of the biggest problems mankind faces today.

Source: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-23/world/germany.algae.power_1_green-algae-carbon-emissions-power-plants?_s=PM:WORLD

Optimum Choices – Offering Healthy Choices for People and Pets

Optimum Choices is a trusted (founded 2002) resource for people and pets offering valuable holistic health information. They are offering many products based on algae such asbio algae concentrates. Bio-algae concentrates (BAC) is a generic name used by Dr. Michael Kiriac to denote any blend of nurtured algae (such as blue-green algae, Spirulina, chlorella, etc.). Dr. Kiriac researched over 1,000 different algae and actually used over 65 algae species in many different bio-algae concentrates (BAC), in over 25 years of animal research in the former Soviet Union. Dr. Kiriac experimented on over 20 different species of animals trying to address cancer in animals. Dr. Kiriac finally invented a specific bio-algae concentrate,pigs dead from cancer containing the four microalgae Spirulina pacifica, Spirulina platensis, Dunaliella salina and astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis, that did stop the ongoing epidemic of cancer in controlled trials in their chickens, mink, pigs and cows. Dr. Kiriac has since immigrated to Canada and his company, BioNutrition, manufactures two bio-algae concentrate products called BioSuperfood and BioPreparation.

Source and Shop URL: http://www.optimumchoices.com/