Speakers: Steve Limburn and Debbie Burfitt

A hands on lecture. Steve talks about the Wheeler diatom slides, and will have a selection of microscopes and slides to view. Debbie explains the importance of historical collections, the hidden treasures they preserve and what they reveal, and the relevance of extinct fossil flora and their impact on climate. She discusses the 6 specimens on the Wheeler slides and why they are important for understanding both past and future conditions.

Steve Limburn is BNSS microscopy chair, Coordinator of the Young Explorer Programme, and Eucation Officer. He is a retired science teacher and whiskey expert.

Debbie Burfitt studied Botany at Bristol University where her PhD supervisor introduced her to diatoms in the Severn Estuary. This led to work in a biostratigraphy lab at Columbia University and to study freshwater ecology as a postdoctoral researcher with the British Antarctic Survey at Portsmouth Polytechnic. She ran her own algal consultancy company and had a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, working on phytoplankton in local waters. Motherhood, family life, and becoming a science teacher kept her busy for another 17 years. On retirement, her interest in diatom taxonomy and ecology was renewed as a microscopist with the Quekett Microscopical Club, and thanks to Steve Limburn, who mended her microscope and got her looking at diatom slide collections again.