The Marine Institute, Ireland in collaboration with the IOC Science and Communication Centre for Harmful Algae, Denmark will conduct a proficiency test on marine phytoplankton abundance and composition amongst laboratories. This test will be broken down into two main areas and each participant will be asked to return results for each. The two areas are: • Identification – in the form of a “Taxonomic Quiz”, This test will be set up on the IOC-UNESCO distant learning web platform ‘OceanTeacher’. Participants will need to log on with a username and password and answer the questions online. • Enumeration and identification – a number of preserved seawater samples spiked with phytoplankton cultured material will be sent to each laboratory.

Contact: Rafael Gallardo Salas Marine Institute Senior Lab Analyst Phytoplankton unit Tlf: 00 353 91 387241 Fax: 00 353 91 387237 e-mail: rafael.salas@marine.ie