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SUMMARY:IGM Colloquium: The fluid mechanics of plankton
DTSTART:20180320T121500
DTEND:20180320T131500
DTSTAMP:20260921T205612Z
UID:51b8e847d9ae82875a97f80cbef1f4ace4cf63df5f7a31490a857e64
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Roman Stocker\, Professor in the Institute of Environmen
 tal Engineering at ETH Zurich\nAlthough we now know that microorganisms ru
 le the oceans - controlling productivity and biogeochemical cycles - we la
 rgely ignore how they are affected by typical fluid flow conditions. For e
 xample\, microbes are routinely exposed to turbulence\, yet physicists hav
 e ignored microbes and biologists have ignored turbulence. Here I present 
 microfluidic and millifluidic experiments\, combined with mathematical mod
 els\, to show that fluid flow can have profound effects on the biomechanic
 s and the ecology of swimming microorganisms.\nI illustrate this through a
  series of examples\, and will focus in particular on 'gravitaxis'\, the t
 endency of many phytoplankton species to swim along the direction of gravi
 ty. I will show that\, in the presence of flow\, gravitaxis results in int
 ense clustering of cells in layers and patches\, akin to those often obser
 ved by oceanographers\, which can have profound effects on plankton popula
 tion dynamics. Intriguingly\, plankton seem to 'know fluid mechanics' and 
 I will present recent evidence that they are able to actively evade turbul
 ence by sensing the simplest among the cues inherent in small-scale turbul
 ent eddies… In addition to representing a new class of active particle 
 problems that promises to keep the fluid mechanician busy for some time to
  come\, these processes are environmentally important because they affect 
 the ecological dynamics and biogeochemical consequences of some of the mos
 t important players in aquatic ecosystems. \n\nBio:\nRoman Stocker is a P
 rofessor in the Institute of Environmental Engineering at ETH Zurich. Roma
 n's research focuses on environmental processes\, particularly in the ocea
 ns: from harmful algal blooms\, to coral bleaching\, to oil spills\, to th
 e carbon cycle. Roman has pioneered the use of new technology - microfluid
 ics - to zoom in on the smallest players behind these processes: the micro
 bes. Roman’s work has contributed to reveal their importance\, frequent
 ly appearing in high-profile scientific journals including Science\, Natur
 e and PNAS\, and being featured in popular media including the BBC\, CNN\,
  and the New York Times. When he is not busy creating new technology to u
 nderstand our environment\, Roman is a keen traveler\, enthusiastic scuba-
 diver\, and proud father. More about him at http://stockerlab.ethz.ch/. 
 \n\n 
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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