The participants of the interactive qualification project on lake ecology. | Photo: IGB
Four students from different technical disciplines from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), MA, USA visited the Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology at IGB for six weeks as part of the Interactive Qualifying Project. The students teamed up with researchers to develop educational materials to illustrate lake stratification, eutrophication effects and how both are affected by climate change. They also created a video from research data on the temporal variation of the mixing depth (temperature profile) as well as the oxygen concentration and algae biomass for a year. At the end of their project, the students presented the material to staff members in a lecture. In addition, they showed the material during a visit to a 9th grade class of the Gransee grammar school to explain to the students the causal linkages between climatic factors and physical-chemical-biological processes in the lake.
A total of 6 groups took part in the interactive qualification project, two of them at the IGB. The entire project ended with a final event in Berlin, where all student groups presented their results.
A big thank you goes to the supporting team at the IGB: Dr. S. Wollrab, A Penske, Dr. H. Dämpfling and Dr. T. Gonsiorcyk.
