[earthstory]

Plankton shell at the nanoscale

A striking image of a plankton shell by Oscar Branson, a PhD student at Cambridge Earth System Science, University of Cambridge, was shortlisted for the inaugural UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) student photography and short article writing competition.

The image was obtained using X-radiography at the Diamond light source, an intense X-ray synchrotron radiation source at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, UK. It shows the intricate detail of the shell structure of this tiny marine organism, called Ammonia tepida. Smaller than a grain of sand, this shell is made by a single-celled organism called a ‘foraminifera’.

Oscar’s research is revealing how the chemistry of such fossil shells provides clues about past climate on Earth, going back many millions of years.

The four judges were Jonathan Bates, Director of Communications for NERC; Harriet Jarlett, a science writer for NERC; Dr Helen Czerski an oceanographer and TV presenter on popular science programmes; and Professor Simon Redfern.

Kirsty Grainger, Head of Skills and Careers at NERC said: “We were delighted by the response to this inaugural competition. The diversity in the winning entries alone highlights the breadth of world-class research training NERC PhD funding supports. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all the judges and all those who submitted entries; the judges’ task was not an easy one!”

~SATR

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See more at: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2013/87-competition.asp_ _