Good water and air quality as well as pollination are of high relevance to our daily life and are linked to microscopic small organisms or particles (phytoplankton organisms and pollen). For high throughput air and water quality, as well as pollination assessment, a worldwide unique cytometer configuration allows to measure several thousands of microscopic images in short time of seconds to minutes. In combination with deep learning technologies we aim to develop a pioneering new technology of automated high throughput species recognition. The achievement of this ambitious vision is only possible with interdisciplinary work and the strong support by many cooperation partners.
Besides the establishment of automated species recognition, we already use imaging flow cytometry in trait-based physiological experiments to investigate coexistence and resilience mechanisms of phytoplankton organisms.