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June 2024
First results from the second ExStream experiment published
Exciting first results from the second ExStream experiments have been recently published. In this study, we evaluated the stressor impacts on litter decomposition. We observed small impact of warming and reduced flow velocity with a very limited impact on salinity. We also noticed high resistance of urban fungal decomposers in restored streams to modest stress.
For more details, be sure to read the entire publication.
May, 2024
First RESIST synthesis paper published
Thanks to a great effort made by RESIST team led by Willem Kaijser, a first RESIST paper synthesizing the knowledge on the associations between multiple stressors and key riverine organismal groups has been just published in STOTEN.
June, 2024
The results from the first ExStream experiment published
After compiling a huge dataset deriving from the first ExStream experiments, the results are finally out in STOTEN. The study provides a holistic assessment of multiple organismal groups and ecosystem functions and indicates that flow velocity seems to play a major role in stream ecosystem integrity.
March, 2024
For the last weeks and months, we initiated an intense planning phase for the upcoming Phase II of RESIST. We recently met together with all of the RESIST PIs to discuss the individual projects and experimental systems and set up goals for the next phase.
January, 2024
Through collaboration with STOTEN journal, we have established a special issue on multiple stressor research where multiple papers from the RESIST consortium have been published.
December, 2023
Experiments in the CRC AquaFlow mesocosms proved the efficiency of detecting the wastewater contamination peaks using both non-target screening for contaminants and DNA metabarcoding of microbial communities.
The results of this collaborative study involving five RESIST projects were recently published in STOTEN.
October, 2023
A recently published paper in Frontiers for Young Minds explains the relevance and effects of multiple stressors for river ecosystems to young researchers at the age of school children.
The article was an initiative of RESIST doctoral researchers and is a great way to communicate scientific content to a broader, non-scientific audience.
September, 2023
Congratulations to our doctoral researchers, Alexandra Schlenker (Project A12) and Svenja Gillmann (Project A17) who won two poster awards at the DGL conference (German Limnological Society) in Cologne presenting their RESIST work!
May, 2023
The third summer school took place from May 8th - 12th and the this time, the overarching topic was modelling. The scientific programme focused on SWAT+ results for ecological modelling, statistical modelling and Deep Learning. The summer school also included a workshop on “Sexualized harassment and violence in the university context” which was given by Heike Pantelmann and Dr. Sabine Blackmore.
Afterwards, the doctoral researchers also had a great team event including having fun at team breakfast, laser tag and a nice BBQ to wrap up eventful days.
November, 2022
We concluded first six large-scale AquaFlow mesocosms where we investigated the effects of stressors on microbial communities. The mesocosms simulate the riffle-pool-sequence of streams and allow the study of stressors and their effects under controlled conditions in a greenhouse.
A two-month experiment on the effects of temperature, salinity and flow velocity was successfully completed in October.
October, 2022
First results presented on the third RESIST General Assembly
Our third RESIST general assembly took place in the Salvador-Allende-House in Oer-Erkenschwick. More than 50 project partners met together to discuss the current project status and started to work on synthesizing the results. The main focus, however, was on the RESIST doctoral researchers, who impressively presented the results achieved so far. It was great to see what the RESIST consortium has achieved already walking through multiple presentations and research posters. Furthermore, the first synthesis projects integrating across the individual projects were started.
July 2, 2022
Lots of activities on the second RESIST Summer school
The second Summer School took place from June 27th to July 1st, 2022, in Essen, Germany and was focused on bioinformatics and eDNA analyses. We went through an introduction to R graphs and ggplot2 as well as some hands-on training in the lab. Furthermore, the doctoral researchers learned how to analyse DNA metabarcoding data with a hands-on session. Moreover, lectures on DNA analytics and start-ups were given by Todd DeSantis (Co-founder & Vice President of Informatics at Second Genome, Inc.
The scientific part was wrapped up with a workshop on science communication by Andrea Tronscoso from city2science (Science Communication and Strategy Consulting) to improve the students’ skills in disseminating their work inside and outside of academia. Afterwards, the students had a great team event organized by Teamgeist West GmbH at SeaSide-Beach at the Baldeneysee in Essen with geocaching and solving riddles. Their main task was to build a swimmable raft and our students managed perfectly! The day was wrapped up with a nice BBQ.
June, 2022
RESIST at the Summer Festival at the University of Duisburg-Essen
On June 8th, 2022 the annual Summer Festival of the University of Duisburg-Essen took place and RESIST was there! The RESIST doctoral researchers presented their work with a great poster and a miniature AquaFlow system. Not even the heavy rain could stop our doctoral researchers from explaining their work and research topics to interested people!
April, 2022
Second ExStream experiment done
After nearly two long months of tremendous effort, the second ExStream experiment, cental to our consortium, has been concluded. This time, it took place in the Kinzig catchment providing a nice comparison to our first ExStream experiment.
The ExStream experiment is one of the central experimental systems in RESIST. This time, alongside other stressors, for the first time we were able to apply temperature manipulation thanks to newly designed heating module.
The scale and throughput of the system was even larger than before which resulted with a multitude of samples that will benefit multiple RESIST projects.
Read more in the corresponding paper
Lear more about ExStream (video/pictures)
March, 2022
Video about ExStream on WDR Lokalzeit - Ruhr
Video about our ExStream experiment and the SFB scientist in action on WDR Lokalzeit - Ruhr
October, 2021
Second RESIST General Assembly – this time in person
On October 25th and 26th the whole RESIST consortium met for the General Assembly. It was the first time since the start of the project at the beginning of 2021 that we could meet in person with nearly all doctoral researchers, Principal investigators (PIs) and postdocs. We updated each other on the progress and further plans of the central projects and experiments and discussed possibilities for additional use of samples and data. Also, we took further step towards a collaborative paper on the central hypotheses about the Asymmetric Response Concept, by discussing the first draft.
After the meeting, there was a possibility to visit the sampling sites at the Boye River, which was a good opportunity for external members to get to know the study area. Overall, it was a really successful meeting that significantly increased the momentum and which has strengthened the RESIST consortium even more.
October, 2021
First RESIST Summer School with basic introduction to R
The doctoral researchers took part in the first summer school CRC of RESIST that took place from 4th to 8th October, 2021 in Essen, Germany focusing on an introduction to statistical analyses with a focus on time series analysis supported by a basic introduction to R software.
But it wasn’t only about science - we made a bicycle tour to some of sampling sites of RESIST in the Boye catchment, followed by a trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Zeche Zollverein. Later on, a workshop on soft skills related to networking took place – we had a great time and we’re already looking forward to the next RESIST Summer School.
June, 2021
First RESIST workshop on good scientific practice
A workshop on "good scientific practice" for the RESIST PI's (Principal investigators) held by Valentina Vasilov of the Graduate Center Plus of the University of Duisburg-Essen. We got really valuable input for creating awareness for doctoral students and potential measures to implement in the project.
June, 2021
RESIST team gathered online for the first General Assembly
We met together to update each other about the progress and further plans of each individual project, and to discuss the underlying principles of RESIST. Furthermore, we heard a great presentation of Klement Tockner (Senkenberg) on “Rivers without water”. All in all, we had a successful meeting that also helped to improve the collaboration and the team spirit in the RESIST.
May, 2021
First ExStream experiment concluded
After about one and a half months, starting with the construction of the system, we successfully finished the ExStream outdoor mesocosm on the river Boye.
The ExStream experiment is one of the central experimental systems in RESIST. This time we applied a salinity gradient and reduced flow velocity as stressors. The samples that we took will keep us busy for the months to come.