This month marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of our company. As part of our celebration we took a trip down memory lane and revisited the former locations of our offices. Best of all, we got to hand-deliver two brand-new FlowCam instruments to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the birthplace of the FlowCam! Bigelow has 2 FlowCams that have been in service for 20+ years. They are affectionately referred to as "The Coffin" for the shape of the black box that houses the optics and electronics. We wish them well with their new instruments!
Best Regards,
Cybele Brooks
Marketing Manager
Pictured above, the Fluid Imaging team with a special delivery of 2 new FlowCam instruments to Bigelow Labs, along with recipients Nicole Poulton, Barney Balch and Laura Lubelczyk.
Collage of the Quarter
Seen above are plankton images collected from the waters of Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, Maine. These were imaged by the new FlowCam 5000, with a 10x objective. Recognize any?
FlowCam 5000 Released to Market
In case you missed it, the FlowCam 5000 is now available. A streamlined and affordable instrument for every organization, agency and research institution that monitors water quality for drinking, recreation and research, the FlowCam 5000 offers a simplified design that is straightforward to implement into any lab setting.
Pictured above is Karenia mikimotoi (with red outlines) as sampled from the waters of Casco Bay off the Island of Great Chebeague. This time of year, it's impossible to avoid stories about harmful algae or toxic cyanobacteria. Communities across the US and the world have been impacted recently by HABs that can produce cyanotoxins dangerous enough to kill dogs who swim and play in those affected lakes and ponds.
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) Adds a FlowCam Macro
Dr. Rakhesh Madhusoodhanan and his colleagues at the Oceanography Research Group at KISR are very excited to expand their research with the use of their new FlowCam. They have been using their FlowCam VS4 to study the spatio-temporal changes in phytoplankton and microzooplankton communities in the northwestern Arabian Gulf (NWAG). The recent addition of the FlowCam Macro will strengthen their capabilities to address the microbial food-web dynamics with special focus on recruitment of fish larvae. Pictured to Right: Harry Nelson with the team at KISR.
(Pictured above, from left, Nicole Gill, Dr. Barteneva, Heather Anne Wright and Kay Johnson)
Several years ago, Dr. Barteneva approached us with interest in setting up a Flow Cytometry laboratory for Nazarbayev University. With her unique position as a research scientist at Harvard University and Faculty Professor at Nazarbayev, she facilitated a grant for their university. The rest, as we say, is FlowCam history.
From this early relationship came a fundamental publication that highlights the FlowCam platform and methodology and that our team still frequently references during FlowCam training: Imaging Flow Cytometry: Methods and Protocols (Barteneva & Vorobjev, 2016). This book has been a valuable learning tool for many aquatic scientists.
FlowCam at Bigelow Labs: Flow Imaging vs. Manual Microscopy and the Study of HABS
Harry Nelson, VP of Aquatic Markets at Fluid Imaging, spent a day at Bigelow Labs showing students how to run samples on the FlowCam. Every summer since 2015, scientists from around the country have come to Boothbay Harbor, Maine to be trained in harmful algae taxonomy and identification as part of the NOAA NCCOS's Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) program.
With the FlowCam, it's straightforward to build libraries based on acquired digital images of algae, and let the paired software run a classification filter to sort the images of species based on 40+ morphological characteristics. Rather than manually examining and counting individual algae samples, the FlowCam automates the entire process and provides accurate counts in a fraction of the time of manual microscopy.
Pictured above, Harry Nelson, Dr. Michael Lomas and this year's class of students.
Fluid Imaging Named to "Best Places to Work in Maine" for 2019
In August, Fluid Imaging Technologies was named one of 29 small companies on the list of the 2019 Best Places to Work in Maine. FIT previously received this honor in 2017, and we are very excited to make the list again this year!
Upcoming 2019 Conferences & Appearances
Will you be attending one of the following conferences? Bring a sample to our booth in the exposition area for a hands-on, live demonstration of the FlowCam and VisualSpreadsheet. Or, simply visit us to say "hi" and ask us any questions. We'll be happy to see you!
EPA Drinking Water Workshop
September 24-26th, Cincinnati, Ohio
10th US Symposium on Harmful Algae
November 3-8, Orange Beach, Alabama
AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference
November 3-7, Dallas, Texas
39th International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS 2019)
November 11-15, Burlington, Vermont
Fluid Imaging Technologies, 200 Enterprise Drive, Scarborough, Maine 04074, USA, +1 207-289-3200