Diatoms of North America2024 Diatom Taxonomic Certification Committee Report
During the past year, a few changes were made in the staffing of the diatom certification committee, we worked on updates to the Genus Level 1 Taxonomic Exam, continued the Diatom Web Academy series, and updated the TCC community at SFS and the diatomist community at the North American Diatom Symposium (NADS). We are grateful to the founder of the TCC, Sylvia Lee, who stepped down after over five years of leading the development and organization of the group. Thank you, Sylvia!! Following Sylvia's departure, each committee member took on responsibilities to cover all tasks that Sylvia was managing.
The TCC continued to make updates to the taxonomic exams. These included incorporating recent taxonomic changes and creating or adjusting the plates to accommodate the updates. There were a few poorly constrained or unstable (in the literature) genera that we omitted from the exam. The Species Level 2 Exam will be reviewed and edited as necessary, and any corresponding updates will be made to the study materials hosted on Diatoms of North America.
We submitted a plan for recertification, which was approved as an option for candidates to renew their Genus Level 1 certification or future recertifications. There are now two options for recertification: 1) retake the exam, or 2) complete the recertification packet. These two levels of exam continue to be a valuable tool and are becoming a requirement to submit for future contracting work, e.g., the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will include Species Level 2 Diatoms certification for future contracted work. The group continues to meet monthly on updates and next steps. The Diatom TCC thanks Mike Broomall for administering the exams, following up with questions from the candidates, and implementing updates to the exam questions.
The Diatom TCC met with the full TCC committee in June at the annual SFS meeting in Philadelphia. We provided updates on our progress, heard updates from other groups, and brainstormed across groups. An update and small presentation on the two exams was given at the 2024 North American Diatom Symposium (NADS) held at Lakeside Lab in the fall of 2024.
The Diatom Web Academy kicked off in 2019 and it continues to draw international participation and attendance. In 2024, there were 12 webinars and over 5,567 views of the recorded presentations. Our YouTube channel has 90 new subscribers and over 76 videos as of February 2025. The webinars are continuing to be a valuable resource for communication, education, and professional connection among the certified and to-be-certified diatomists.
Exams are offered online and may be scheduled by completing an interest form on the Stroud website. Exams may be administered in connection with a conference or workshop, such as the Society for Freshwater Science annual meeting or the North American Diatom Symposium. For more information, contact.
