Webinar #7
From Coasts to Microbes: Participatory Observations with DiverSea & Sailing4Science
The fourth webinar of the MOD Alliance series, hosted by the DiverSea project, will happen on
05 May 2026 at 11.00 am CET (UTC+1).
Abstract:
Our oceans are vast, yet we observe only a fraction of them. Limited by access to research vessels, the cost of instrumentation, and the challenge of verifying what satellites see from space. The DiverSea Sweden-Norway campaign set out to tackle these challenges from a perspective of sustainability and accessibility. Aboard the RV Hrimfare, a racing sailboat turned research vessel, a team of researchers across disciplines and career stages tested accessible, low-barrier instruments along the Swedish-Norwegian coastline and opened the ship’s doors in every port, inviting the public aboard to see ocean science up close. This hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to observation raises a broader question that extends well beyond a single cruise: how can we rethink available technologies to tackle new scientific questions, such as marine phytoplankton-virus interactions in a changing ocean, and why does the accessibility of the methods we develop matter for the future of ocean observation?
Meet the speaker:
Louisa Guenzel is a first-year PhD candidate in Marine Chemistry at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. She holds a B.Sc. in Marine Biotechnology and an M.Sc. in Environmental Toxicology. Her current research focuses on the relationship between marine phytoplankton and their viruses in a changing ocean, and on integrating novel observation and monitoring methods to study these dynamics. Beyond the lab, she explores the ocean from above on sailboats and below while freediving the Norwegian fjords.