31 December 2015
What is diatomaceous earth?
Diatomaceous earth, or diatomite, is composed by the silica cell walls of diatoms. There are many deposits of diatomite in North America, both marine...
News
Archives 2015
16 November 2015
Ruth Patrick: The River Doctor
“To be a good biologist and make contributions you first have to learn one group of organisms in great depth.” - Ruth Patrick Dr. Patrick not only...
15 November 2015
Developing a species complex, I mean, species concept
EPA Taxon Page Workshop November 5-9, 2015 Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia Brave diatomists: Ian Bishop, David Burge,...
20 October 2015
It’s the diatoms that make the Great Lakes great
Euan Reavie hosted nine diatomists at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) in Duluth, Minnesota on 12-13 October 2015. The NRRI Great...
16 October 2015
Less of A,B,C. More of thinking like a diatom
Starting this week, users will notice a difference in the order of species on each genus page. Previously, the iconic images of each species were...
12 October 2015
Diatom ecology in context
Hundreds of students in the Midwest states of Iowa and South Dakota have the opportunity to learn advanced topics in a unique setting, and many of...
29 September 2015
Diatoms and people…
....at the North American Diatom Symposium The 23rd NADS was held at the Central Michigan University Biological Station from 9-13 September on...
15 September 2015
Where do diatoms live?
Diatoms live in water, or even in moist habitats or soils. Some diatoms live as free-floating cells in the plankton of ponds, lakes and oceans....
13 September 2015
A little slice of heaven
The first official meeting of the Phycological Research Consortium (PRC). was held May 11-15, 2015 at Iowa Lakeside Lab. The meeting consisted of...
09 September 2015
How do diatoms get big again?
Diatoms regain their maximum size through sexual reproduction and the formation of a special structure, termed an auxospore. An auxospore is a unique...
17 August 2015
Colleges - get ready, your students already know about diatoms
For the first time, an opportunity for advanced high school students to earn college credit, with a tuition waiver from the University of Iowa, was...
29 July 2015
A centric revolution? Or natural nomenclature?
Taxonomy is considered to have originated with Carl Linnaeus and his publication of Systema Naturae in 1735. Linneaus was concerned with a system to...
30 June 2015
The Air You’re Breathing? A Diatom Made That
This news report is taken from Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights by diatom expert Andrew Alverson, University of Arkansas,...
29 June 2015
Education Connection: Project Periphyton
High school students use the Diatoms of the United States website to identify and count diatoms in their local rivers, as part of an innovative and...
17 June 2015
DIATOMS! Drowning?! Death?! Forensics?!
One of the guidelines for contributors of species pages for Diatoms of the United States project is that images are taken from North American...
22 May 2015
How long does a diatom cell live?
A single diatom cell can divide and form two new cells. Cells may divide as quickly as once a day up to once every several weeks. The silica cell...
10 May 2015
A small fraction of the semi-known species
Taxon Workshop (May 4-8) and Diatoms of US Developers Meeting (May 3-5) at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia...
01 May 2015
How big are diatoms?
Nearly all diatoms are microscopic - cells range in size from 2 µm to 500 µm, that is, half of a millimeter. The biggest diatoms are about the width...
04 March 2015
EPA Office of Water Support
In September (16-20) 2014, members of the Editorial Review Board, Environmental Protection Agency representatives, academics and web designers joined...
