A big welcome to Sushee Dunn who has joined us as AQUAEXCEL TNA Operations Officer. Sushee has previously worked on multiple projects in a number of environments including health, construction and manufacturing. Latterly, she was Head of Quality, Research and Standards at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and spent a year as senior manager with NHS England supporting challenged Trusts to use structured judgement review of mortality data for rapid quality improvement. Sushee has a latent interest in marine biology and is looking forward to learning more about aquaculture as she manages the TNA application process for the project.
In April 2023, Emilie Cardona and Sandra Skiba-Cassy from INRAE (The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) visited the Institute of Aquaculture to work with Matthew Sprague on the AQUAEXCEL transnational access project “MIRAGE”. The project is concerned with determining the optimal ratio of essential fatty acids (particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) in broodstock rainbow trout in order to increase their robustness, reproductive performance and quality of their eggs. The study is needed as fishmeal and fish oil have become more expensive and are more frequently substituted with plant-based proteins and oils. The experimental work was carried out in the INRAE NuMeA experimental station located in Lees-Athas whilst the associated analytical work was carried out in the Nutrition laboratories of the Institute of Aquaculture. Emilie and Sandra speak more about the project in the following video.
Emilie Cardona and Sandra Skiba-Cassy introduce the MIRAGE project and work at the Institute of Aquaculture.
A third round of funding is now available for technician mobility between AQUAEXCEL3.0 partner organisations. This funds up to €2,000 per visit. The deadline for applications is 29th September 2023. See the post from the second call for further details – https://aquaexcel.stir.ac.uk/2022/07/technician-transnational-mobility-program/
June, 2023 – We are currently recruiting for a part-time Operations Officer to administer all AQUAEXCEL Transnational Access project applications. The post provides for flexible working, mainly involving maintaining contact with AQUAEXCEL Transnational Access applicants, reviewers and facility managers to ensure proposals are smoothly administered through the review process. The post also involves supporting the TNA Project Coordinator in preparing routine reports analysing the access that is provided under the project. The closing date for applications is 22nd June. Further details can be found at https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-at-stirling/list/details/?jobId=3635&jobTitle=Operations%20Officer%20(Research)
Kirsten Strachan, who was first recruited to the role of TNA Administrator in 2016 under the AQUAEXCEL2020 programme, retired at the end of April 2023. Colleagues at the Institute and across the AQUEXCEL community expressed their sadness that she was leaving the project, but also their best wishes for many happy years ahead. As the many greetings in her leaving card testified, Kirsten was always cheerful, patient and a great pleasure to work with. She efficiently steered projects through the complexities of the TNA application and review process and supported both applicants and reviewers through the frustrations of their tasks. She will be much missed by all of us, so Thank You Kirsten and Happy Retirement!
Silvere Santos, Animal Care Technician (NACWO) at the Institute of Aquaculture took advantage of the AQUAEXCEL Technician Transnational Mobility funds to spend time at the IFREMER PEARS facility in the South of France, to learn more about the husbandry of sea bass and to take part in some of the behavioural research. Here is the video he made of his stay.
In early 2023, Andrea Bertini a PhD researcher from the University of Trento in Italy, visited the Institute of aquaculture for collaborative research as part of the AQUAEXCEL Transnational Access to Research Infrastructures Programme.
Andrea’s research focus is on aquaculture nutrition and in particular the study of novel sustainable ingredients and their application into aquafeed formulation. The purpose of his visit was to use the specialist facilities at the Institute of Aquaculture to investigate the production of eicosanoid signalling molecules by fish in response to different dietary ingredients. These molecules are known to play a primary role in the regulation of several physiological and immunological processes in fish.
Whilst at the Institute of Aquaculture, Andrea was able to use the facilities of the molecular laboratory including a Q-PCR machine allowing 384 samples to be analysed in a single run. As the experimental design required evaluating the expression of multiple genes involved in eicosanoid production in multiple samples collected at different times, this machine helped to save a lot of time. Andrea also made use of the nutrition laboratory and in particular the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry device to quantify the concentration of eicosanoids in each sample and correlate it with the gene expression analysis.
At the University of Stirling, Andrea worked with Dr Monica Betancor and Dr Richard Broughton along with Technicians and other PhD and Postdoctoral researchers.
Stirling Staff attending the meeting: John Bostock, Amaya Albalat, Sonia Rey Planellas, Kirsten Strachan and (not shown) Pamela Prentice
The AQUAEXCEL Consortium Annual Meeting was held in Heraklion, Crete from 18-20th October 2022. The Institute of Aquaculture was represented by Sonia Rey Planellas, Amaya Albalat, Pamela Prentice, Kirsten Strachan and John Bostock. It was a busy meeting with staff running a practical workshop on using the ARIA TNA application management system and actively participating in workshops on managing transnational access and on technological tools for improved experimental procedures. Sonia Rey Planellas also attended the Executive Committee meeting. On the final afternoon, the team also had the opportunity to visit the marine research aquarium facilities of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). The project is progressing well and there are still many opportunities for transnational access projects to most of the 40 installations.
Participants in the opening sessionAQUAEXCEL meeting participants visit the marine research facilities of HCMRParticipants at the AQUAEXCEL Meeting in CreteKirsten Strachan presenting to the meeting on TNA management
AQUAEXCEL 3.0 offers the opportunity for technicians working at any of the AQUAEXCEL Infrastructures to apply for a short training visit to one of the other Infrastructures (usually 1-2 weeks). The aim of the programme is to promote capacity building and the sharing of innovative experiments and best practices on how to improve the provision of research services at an aquaculture research institute. It deliberately takes a “bottom-up” approach based on the view that motivated and skilful technicians are key to dynamic, innovative experimental approaches, and hence the value of investing in the development of cross-cutting and specific skills through a technician mobility programme.
The door of the Institute of Aquaculture is open for technicians for other infrastructures to work in our freshwater or marine experimental facilities covering issues such as practical fish handling, sampling techniques, welfare, system monitoring or experimental design and analysis. The analytical laboratories are also open for visitors to learn about analytical equipment and techniques used at the Institute of Aquaculture.
The Third Call for Technician Mobility is currently open with a deadline of 29 September 2023
There is also the opportunity for Institute of Aquaculture technicians to apply to visit other Infrastructures to learn different techniques and gain experience of alternative approaches, species and systems. There is a maximum budget of €2,000 per person taking part in an approved exchange to cover travel and subsistence expenses. Technical staff at the Institute of Aquaculture should contact Jacquie Ireland, Amaya Albalat or Sonia Rey Planellas for further details. Staff of other Infrastructures should speak with their own AQUAEXCEL representative about the application procedures.
In the summer of 2017 Dr Jaime Nácher Mestre (Lecturer at Marina Real-EDEM Fundación Escuela de Empresarios-Centro Universitario. and Associate Researcher with the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group-Institute of aquaculture Torre de la Sal, CSIC) used AQUAEXCEL TNA to support two visits to the Institute of Aquaculture to work with the Nutrition Group to develop analytical techniques for important mycotoxins and investigate the degree to which they might be transferred from feed to fish flesh. This is an important question as there has been a substantial increase in the use of terrestrial plant ingredients in farmed fish diets, with potential for new contamination pathways.
Analytical output from mycotoxin spiked feed
The analysis involved the use of Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MSMS) equipment at the Institute of Aquaculture for the detection of emerging mycotoxins beauvericin and enniatins. The project was successful in developing the necessary analytical methods and reassuringly indicated no detectable transfer of mycotoxins from feed to farmed fish flesh (salmon and sea bream), so no risk for human consumption. The work resulted in a publication in the journal “Food Chemistry”(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126773).
