Best Practices in Ocean Acidification Research

The training course was organized by the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

The training course sought to train early-career scientists and researchers from IAEA Asian Member States entering the ocean acidification field. The end goal was to assist them to be able to set up pertinent experiments, avoid typical pitfalls and ensure comparability with other studies.

Twenty eight scientists from 10 IAEA Asian Member States participated in the course, which aimed to provide an introduction to both monitoring and experimental ocean acidification studies, with special focus on methods and potential pitfalls. It also looked to encourage networking and familiarize participants with existing international cooperation opportunities and resources in the field of ocean acidification. 

The training included lectures in plenary and hands-on experiments in smaller groups. The subjects covered included: the CO₂ system and its measurement, instrumentation available for measuring seawater chemistry parameter, software packages used to calculate CO₂ system parameters, key aspects of ocean acidification experimental design, such as manipulation of seawater chemistry, biological perturbation approaches, and lab- and field-based methods for measuring organism calcification and other physiological responses to seawater chemistry changes, including nuclear and isotopic techniques.

Lecturers included Dr Lisa Robbins (Geological Survey, USA), and OA-ICC Focal Point for Capacity Building, Dr Andrew Dickson (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), Dr Sam Dupont (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), and Dr Helen Findlay (Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK).

The emphasis of the training course was on the practical aspects of experimental set-up, pertinent data collection and data interpretation. Acquaintance with instrumentation was facilitated during group assignments. Particular attention was given to methodology for the measurement of biological responses to ocean acidification (e.g. respiration, calcification), including the application of nuclear and isotopic techniques.

A field trip to Dongshan Island gave participants an overview of the local aquaculture industry. Participants also had the opportunity to interact with local decision makers and aquaculture managers.