Science Saturday: “Diatoms: Jewels of the River”

Drop in every Saturday between 2-4 pm, and together, we’ll explore different aspects of our environment during fun and interactive sessions in our water lab.

Art and science meet as you explore the colorful and wondrous microscopic world of water. Discover the complex and intricate beauty of these hidden single-celled algae called diatoms along with their contribution to water quality research.

Diatoms have a glass-like silica cell wall that consists of two halves that elegantly fit together.  In the 19^th century amateur scientists amused themselves by arranging them in intricate patterns, in the 20^th century, famed woman ecologist Ruth Patrick pioneered the study of these small cells to study water pollution.