BU Research Blog

Hai Luu (PhD student working with Prof Genoveva Esteban  and Dr Iain Green in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, SciTech) travelled to her home country of Vietnam where she organised a seminar on microscopic life for 20 undergraduate students of the Aqua-Agriculture Faculty at Travinh University.  Students collected samples from freshwater ponds, and observed the single-celled and other microscopic organisms that thrive in such habitats; they also studied their diversity in soil samples.  Hai Luu gave a presentation about the diversity of organisms that constitute the unicellular protists, including micro-algae, protozoa, and slime molds. This event was a great opportunity for the students to recognise the biodiversity of micro-organisms in soils and fresh waters, and to understand the important role they play in food webs. The seminar was the first of its kind at Travinh University, and a unique opportunity to disseminate the research we do in this field at BU to a wider audience.  Excellent feedback was received from the enthusiastic group of students.