The Cal Poly Microbial Oceanography Time-series is a partnership between CCE LTER and the Pasulka Lab at Cal Poly to document the variability in microbial communities at the northern most range of the CalCOFI region and provide a platform for educating and training undergraduate students in oceanographic techniques. Undergraduate students participate in an active pier sampling program at the end of the 1-km long Cal Poly Pier. Students help collect samples to determine 1) the concentrations of total chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-a concentrations larger than 3µm size fraction within the phytoplankton community, 2) cell abundance and biomass of phytoplankton and microzooplankton via epifluorescence microscopy, and 3) the composition of phytoplankton and bacterial communities via high-throughput rRNA sequencing. All measurements are taken at the surface and some measurements (chlorophyll-a) are taken at additional depths (~4 and 10m). The objective of this time series collection is to help characterize the chemical, physical, and biological processes governing the communities of the California Current Ecosystem, train and educate Cal Poly students in oceanographic sample collection as part of the universities “Learn by Doing” philosophy, and provide biological and environmental context of microorganisms at the Cal Poly Pier for additional experimental endeavors.
