With a recent doctorate degree in hand, an alumnus of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College is back in the Virgin Islands to share a new tool for viewing the tiny micro-organisms that live in the territory’s marine ecosystems.
Dr. Loay Jabre, who earned an associate degree in natural science from HLSCC in 2010, is now a postdoctoral investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
He recently came to HLSCC’s Centre for Applied Marine Studies for a two-week visit focused on training the CAMS Coastal Resilience Lab team to use the centre’s newly acquired “PlanktoScope,” according to Susan Zaluski, the director of marine and maritime studies at HLSCC. The open-source device is used for imaging, counting and measuring plankton, tiny organisms that drift on currents and tides.
The PlanktoScope
During Dr. Jabre’s doctoral studies at Dalhousie University in Novia Scotia, Canada, he founded and led the “Planktosquad,” a multidisciplinary group of graduate students who built the PlanktoScope to use for research and educational outreach in partnership with other organisations, according to HLSCC.
During discussions about potential collaborations, Dr. Jabre and Ms. Zaluski agreed that the approach could be a good fit for CAMS.
“The PlanktoScope is an inexpensive microscopy instrument that allows researchers and citizen-scientists to explore the microbial world,” Dr. Jabre said. “At CAMS, we used PlanktoScope to peer into the hidden universe of micro-organisms found in our BVI backyards — salt ponds, mangrove lagoons, beaches and more.”
In the VI, he added, plankton “form the foundations of marine ecosystems and underpin important flora and fauna like coral reefs, flamingos and fishes, to name a few.”
Projects
The team is initially using the PlanktoScope to investigate the microscopic life in mangrove lagoons and salt ponds in the territory. By providing detailed snapshots of the biodiversity in these ecosystems, the device will enhance ongoing mangrove restoration and conservation efforts at CAMS, according to Ms. Zaluski.
In partnership with Dr. Jabre, the CAMS team plans to continue using the PlanktoScope to study plankton communities across the territory to better understand how the micro-organisms interact with the ecosystems there.
Team members
The HLSCC Coastal Resilience Lab team members trained by Dr. Jabre included Nia Jeffers, Jian Jeffers, Joseph Wells, N’Khoy Stoutt, Nandi Christopher, J’Kyla Rogers and Michaela Potter.
Jian Jeffers, a science teacher at the Elmore Stoutt High School and advisor for the school’s Environmental Club, plans to incorporate the technology into the club’s activities later this year.
The acquisition of the PlanktoScope was made possible through the support of the Sir Richard Branson-backed Unite BVI Foundation, according to HLSCC.
Dr. Jabre’s visit to CAMS was sponsored by the United States-based Well/Beings foundation, a non-profit organisation that works to preserve mangroves in this territory and Puerto Rico. HLSCC President Dr. Richard Georges praised the project.
“PlanktoScope is a transformative tool that will greatly enhance our research and outreach capabilities,” Dr. Georges said in the press release. “We are incredibly thankful to Unite BVI and the Well/Beings foundation for their support, and to Dr. Jabre for sharing his expertise with our team.”
