Lead Scientist
Dr. Ana Amorim (aaferreira@fc.ul.pt)

The Institute

The Institute of Oceanography (IO) is a multidisciplinary research unit of the national R&D system, integrated in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), with competencies in Physical Oceanography, Marine Botany and Marine Zoology.
The main objectives of the Institute are: (i) to develop fundamental research in oceanography; (ii) to support technical training and academic education at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) in Marine Sciences; (iii) to provide technical support to the primary sector (e.g., fisheries, aquaculture, etc.); (iv) to provide services to the community in general (e.g., environmental impact assessment, ecological monitoring, land use management studies, etc.).
Since 1996, the Marine Botany group has expanded its research interests to include the biology and ecology of cyst producing dinoflagellates, with emphasis on harmful species. Since then a culture collection has been started, with the aim of contributing to build a critical resource for national and international research on warm temperate phytoplankton species. The collection already includes other taxonomic groups namely haptophytes and diatoms.

Role in PLANKTON*NET

The team at FFCUL will during the course of the project buil their own PLANKTON*NET node. An online taxonomic key for harmful algae will also be produced. The team will work closely with partner 6 (IPIMAR) to populate the site with data held at both partner institutes.