[Coral-List] Submit an Abstract to ICRS 2020 session on Innovative techniques to Investigate Calcification

[Alexander Venn]

DearColleagues, 

Wewelcome abstract submissions to our ICRS 2020 session “How can innovativetechniques to investigate calcification and its mechanism shed light into thepast, present and future of coral reef organisms?”  (Theme 7: Scalableobservations and technologies). See abstract below. 

The fieldof coral calcification/biomineralization is rapidly evolving, thanks in part toan explosion in the use of diverse techniques employed to investigate thesubject.  Many of these approaches involve specialized methodologies (seelist in the abstract), which are quite tricky to understand without backgroundknowledge about their use and interpretation. As such, we hope that our sessionwill provide an open and friendly forum to learn and discuss their pros, cons,strengths and limitations.  We intend that our session will be helpful toan increasingly multi-disciplinary community working on the calcification of coralsand other coral-reef calcifiers, calcification-linked physiology,paleo-oceanography and climate change.
And ofcourse, we encourage students, postdocs/ early career researchers to submit.The call for abstracts opens on July 1, 2019 and closes on the 1st of September. http://www.icrs2020.de/

Looking forward to seeing you inBremen next year! 

Alexander Venn, Sylvie Tambutte, Anton Eisenhauer and Virginie Chamard

 

AlexanderA. Venn 

SeniorScientist/Charge de Recherche

CentreScientifique de Monaco

www.centrescientifique.mc

avenn at centrescientifique.mc

 Abstract:

Theme 7:Scalable observations and technologies. “How can innovative techniques toinvestigate calcification and its mechanism shed light into the past, presentand future of coral reef organisms?”

Calcificationis the process by which tiny coral polyps build the largest bioconstructions onthe planet, the coral reefs. Despite the biological and geochemical importanceof calcification and more than 100 years of investigation, our understanding ofthis process and its underlying mechanism still remains patchy. Calcificationis sensitive to many aspects of global environmental change, and improvingunderstanding of calcification is the key to a clearer vision of how coralreefs responded to past environmental change and how they will fare in futuredecades. Contemporary research on calcification is breaking exciting, newground in diverse disciplines such as biochemistry, physiology, material designand paleogeochemistry. Such studies address different levels of organizationfrom the biomineral to the organism. To push the frontiers of understanding,new innovative approaches are being used to improve the culturing of biologicalmaterial from cell to colony, and in the analysis of calcification processes.Among these are molecular and proteomic approaches; physiological techniquessuch as Ussing chambers, microelectrodes and in vivo confocal imaging; andgeochemical or material science techniques including Raman spectroscopy,secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(NMR), cryo-scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser-ablation techniques andsynchrotron based x-ray diffraction or scattering microscopy. This sessionwelcomes presentations that concern investigations applying these and otherinnovative approaches with or without classical techniques (buoyant weight,alkalinity anomaly, radioactive isotopes) that show the potential to shed newlight into the processes driving calcification and growth. Description of theadvantages and drawbacks/limitations of the techniques are also welcome. Coralsare the focus of this session, however we also welcome presentations concerningother calcifying organisms associated with coral reefs.