Monday, 8th May 2023

16:00 - 19:00 Arrival and registration of first participants (+mounting of first posters)

Tuesday, 9th May 2023

Symposium opening

08:00 - 9:00 Registration + mounting posters

09:00 - 09:30 Opening ceremony - Welcome address by Dr Frederik Leliaert, Director Collections Meise Botanic Garden & the conference organizers 

Session 1 - Diatom systematics: from history to the next century

Chairs - Eileen J. Cox & Konrad Schultz

09:30 - 10:20 Keynote lecture 1

Carlos E. Wetzel (Luxemburg Institute of Science & Technology, Luxemburg)

Terrestrial diatoms as indicators of soil conditions

10:20 - 10:40 Tanja M. Schuster

The diatom collection of Albert Grunow (1826–1914) at the herbarium of the Natural History Museum Vienna (W)

10:40 - 11:00 David G. Mann

What if Ross was right, that “when a large number of populations are examined... the various forms are found so to intergrade that there seems little justification for the taxonomic recognition of them at any level”?

11:00 - 11:20 Short break (continuation of mounting the posters)

11:20 - 11:40 Jan Kollár

On the molecular affairs in diatom research – past, present and future

11:40 - 12:00 David M. Williams

Fossils and phylogeny: Euodia frauenfeldii Grunow, an account of its phylogenetic relationships as revealed by morphology

12:00 - 12:20 Michael Kloster

How to boost diatom research by digitizing analysis and training

12:20 - 12:30 Announcements and group photo in front of the castle

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

Session 2 - Diatom systematics: from history to the next century (cont.)

Chairs - Isabelle Lavoie & Lane Allan

14:00 - 14:50 Keynote lecture 2

Adriana Zingone (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy)

Insights into diatom diversity and ecology through DNA metabarcoding

14:50 - 15:10 Nélida Abarca

Taxon complex within the Gomphonema herculeanum: evaluation of morphological and molecular data

15:10 - 15:30 Dušica Zaova

Microevolutionary dynamics in endemic diatom species in Lake Ohrid during the Quaternary period

15:30 - 15:50 Short break

15:50 - 16:10 Martin Laviale

Development of a collaborative web-based approach for quantifying diatom deformities

16:10 - 16:30 Matt Ashworth

Morphological and genetic variation across the genus Anaulus Ehrenberg

16:30 - 16:50 Cüneyt Nadir Solak

The diversity of Halamphora in Turkey

16:50 - 17:10 Konrad Schultz

Hidden diversity: Revisiting the genus Discostella

17:10 - 1715 Announcements

17:15 - 18:45 Poster session

19:00 - 21:30 Beer reception in the Greenhouses

Wednesday, 10th May 2023

8:30 - 8:45 Start of the session

Session 3 - Diatom Diversity: an amazing world

Chairs - Paul B. Hamilton & Cécile Porchier

08:45 - 9:35 Keynote lecture 3

Paul B. Hamilton (Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada)

Freshwaters, ecosystem services, resilience and sustainability: where is diatom research today and where will it be in the future

9:35 - 9:55 Annika Vilmi

Diatom diversity in drying river networks across Europe

9:55 - 10:15 Jonas Zimmerman (first author: Katherina Schimani)

Exploring benthic diatom diversity in Antarctica: insights from a morphological and metabarcoding approach

10:15 - 10:35 Tyler J. Kohler

Preliminary global patterns in glacier-fed stream diatom communities as revealed by 18S amplicon sequencing

10:35 - 10:55 Lane Allan

Genus level similarities in diatom communities in Antarctic and Alpine habitats

10:55 - 11:15 Short break

Session 4  - Beyond the microscope: diatoms and their environment

Chairs - Koen Sabbe & Coralie André

11:15 - 11:35 Lucie Kotyzová

Distribution of the invasive diatom Didymosphenia geminata in the Czech part of the Elbe River basin and its ecological implications

11:35 - 11:55 Marco Cantonati

Taxonomic and ecological characterization of three symmetric biraphid diatom species from streams in Cyprus

11:55 - 12:15 Aude Beauger

Biodiversity and environmental factors structuring diatom communities of mineral saline springs in the French Massif Central (France)

12:15 - 12:35 Ntambwe Albert Serge Mayombo

Restoration matters: Diatom community response to the time since the restoration of sewage channels of the Boye catchment (Germany)

12:35 - 12:40 Announcements 

12:40 - 14:00 Lunch break (and taking down posters)

Session 5  - Beyond the microscope: diatoms and their environment (cont.)

Chairs - Matt Ashworth & Lucija Kanjer

14:00 - 14:20 Zlatko Levkov

Diversity of freshwater diatoms: from local to global scales

14:20 - 14:40 Anca-Mihaela Șuteu

An insight into the crenic diatom communities found in several karstic springs (Apuseni Mountains)

14:50 - 15:00 Kateřina Kopalová

Old vs. young: landscape scale shifts in Antarctic lake diatom communities

15:00 - 15:20 Isabelle Lavoie

From “opics” to “omics”: the Eastern Canadian Diatom Index mutating into a DNA-based water quality index From “opics” to  “omics”: the Eastern Canadian Diatom Index mutating into a DNA-based water quality index

15:20 - 15:40 Roksana Majewska

Sea turtle-specific diatoms are real

15:40 - 16:00 Sunčica Bosak

An overview of diatom and bacterial diversity associated with Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles

16:00 - 16:20 Short break

Session 6  - Diatoms from fossils to future

Chairs - Tyler J. Kohler & Tereza Cahova

16:20 - 16:40 Marina Vidhya

Palaeoecological changes of glacial lakes from the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene of the Tatra Mts. (Slovakia)

16:40 - 17:00 Ieva Grudzinska

Diatoms in the sediments of Hüttwilersee: changes in the nutrient regime during the 20th century

17:00 - 17:20 Coralie André

Palaeoenvironment reconstruction of a medieval embankment at Sint Anna ter Muiden based on the ecology of palynomorphs and diatoms

17:20 - 17:40 Andrea M. Burfeid-Castellanos

Effects of climate-based hydrology variations on diatom biodiversity: comparing molecular markers and their effectiveness to digital microscopy

17:40 - 18:00 Elena Jovanovska

Origin and evolution of two diatom genera from the East African Rift lakes

18:0 - 18:20 Evidence of the Tunguska Event in sediments of Suzdalevo Lake: the diatom response

Barbora Chattová

18:20 - 18:45 Closing session & announcement of the next meeting

19:00 - 22:00 Conference dinner (BBQ in Bouchout Castle, Meise Botanic Garden) + student prize ceremony

Thursday, 11th May 2023

Taxonomic workshop

The genus Brachysira in Europe

Bart Van de Vijver, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium

Click here for more info on the workshop

9:30 – 12:30 Plenary workshop lecture highlighting all Brachysira species in Europe

12:40 – 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 – 17:00 LM microscopy observations of Brachysira species including type material and slides of the participants