Improving our knowledge of the ocean requires a new generation of well-trained researchers that are able to combine practical field work with modern methods like remote sensing or RNA sequencing. By crossing the Atlantic from North to South, students will get a thorough insight in the fundamental principles of biological oceanography. 

This exciting cruise brought together participants from Europe and South Africa, through a joint cooperation between the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research & Training (SMART) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO). 

Students were trained in the principles of oceanography and marine biology. Work on board included lectures, practical exercises and student presentations. Along the North South transect from Bremerhaven to Cape Town, participants received a hands-on training in deployment and operation of scientific gear (Rosette sampler with CTD sensors, Bongonet, Multinet, and Continuous Plankton recorder), acquisition and processing of the sample material and interpretation of the respective data. Students were trained in:

• The determination of pH, oxygen and alkalinity 
• Microscopy of phytoplankton and zooplankton 
• Determination of phytoplankton 
• DNA/RNA isolation 
• Cultivation of species