Neufeld citizen science

Aquarium microbial ecology:a living room approach to citizen science Josh D. Neufeld University of Waterloo @joshdneufeld

AOA in Natural Environments AOA outnumber AOBAOA are ubiquitous soil freshwater marine estuary

Ammonia oxidation in built aquatic environments? Access to ﬁlters… scistarter

Sample from a variety of aquaria: freshwater, marine, ﬁsh, plantsCollect from KWAS members, extract DNA, quantitative real-time PCR for ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia- oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Fingerprinting and sequencing for diversity.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONSWhat aspects of water chemistry shapeaquarium AOA (and AOB) communities?Do AOA/AOB communities correlate?Does AOB/AOA biofilm succession occurwhen aquariums are first established?From where do filter AOA seed populationsoriginate? Do they seed homes (“x”)?Do AOA buffer aquaria fromammonia toxicity during antibiotictreatment?

ADVANTAGES OF AQUARIUMSFOR CITIZEN SCIENCEAquarium hobbyists are organized bysocieties, pet stores – already networkedYoung people are involved and invested(children, schools, undergrads)Individual results matter to aquaristsAquaria are aquatic microcosms,“experiments” – already citizen science!Standalone or accessory to existing“Domestic Biome” initiativesHigh biomass, easy sampling

AQUARI-USPROJECT

University of Waterloo *Laura Sauder(MSc)* Jennifer Stearns (PDF) Katja Engel (RA) Andre Masella (RA) Richard Pawliszyn (BSc)Puntipar Sonthiphand (PhD) NIOZ Roy. NetherlandsInstitute for Sea Research Francien Peterse Stefan Schouten Others Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society KW Aquarium stores Guelph Wastewater Treatment Plant Region of Waterloo

thank youjneufeld@uwaterloo.ca@joshdneufeld

Neufeld citizen science

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