Studying Ocean Acidification and its Effects on Marine Ecosystems

The training course was organized by the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC)of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the support of the University of Cape Town and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The purpose of the course was to train early-career scientists and researchers from IAEA African Member States entering the ocean acidification field, with the goal to assist them in becoming able to measure ocean acidification and to set up pertinent experiments, avoiding typical pitfalls and ensuring comparability with other studies. It also sought to increase networking among scientists working on ocean acidification in Africa.

The training included lectures in plenary sessions and hands-on experiments in smaller groups (the level will depend on the basic knowledge of the selected participants). Subjects covered included: the carbon dioxide (CO2) system and its measurement; instrumentation available for measuring seawater chemistry parameters; 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 laboratory and field-based methods for measuring organism calcification and other physiological responses to seawater chemistry changes, including nuclear and isotopic techniques. The training took place on a research vessel in the harbour.

The course was open to 26 trainees from IAEA Member States in Africa. Priority was given to early-career scientists beginning to work in the field of ocean acidification.