Background
Oyster reefs generate habitat complexity and enhance biodiversity by provision of food, shelter, and settlement substratum for a characteristic species assemblage. The European Oyster Ostrea edulis has been classified as an extinct species within the German Bight.
Against the background of ongoing and future planned reintroduction measures, the PROCEED project establishes an innovative and sustainable seed oyster production of the European oyster Ostrea edulis to support long-term reintroduction projects in the North Sea. The Helgoland Oyster Hatchery is operated at the AWI Helgoland since 2019. The associated research supports the technical optimization of juvenile oyster production and also includes topics such as genetic diversity and effects/control of pathogens.
In the season of production 2020, a critical concentration of bacteria, namely Vibrio spp., was observed in different compartments of the Helgoland Oyster Hatchery. The goal of the proposed Master’s thesis is to further investigate the quantity as well as the quality (species identification) of this Vibrio presence and thereby evaluate their possible pathogenic influence on European oysters of different age classes within the hatchery.
Tasks
As part of the master’s thesis, water samples from different origins within the hatchery will be analyzed for Vibrio spp. by using culture dependent microbiological techniques (enrichment on selective media) and identification of isolates by using MALDI-TOF.
Requirements
- Master student in marine biology, microbiology, veterinary sciences or a related field
- A strong background in microbiological techniques is required.
Further Information
All experimental work will be carried out on Helgoland, starting in March 2022 and accompanying the production season in the Helgoland Oyster Hatchery.
You are interested?
Then please send us your application with Cover letter & an CV (with all documents merged into one PDF file) by e-mail to: Dr. Gunnar Gerdts (Gunnar.Gerdts@awi.de), Dr. Antje Wichels (Antje.Wichels@awi.de) or Dr. Bernadette Pogoda (Bernadette.Pogoda@awi.de)
For further information please contact
Dr. Gunnar Gerdts (Gunnar.Gerdts@awi.de, +49(4725)819-3245)
Dr. Antje Wichels (Antje.Wichels@awi.de, +49(4725)819-3257)
Dr. Bernadette Pogoda (Bernadette.Pogoda@awi.de, +49 (0471) 4831-2710)
For more information follow this link.