About

The Plankton Project was started in 2023 by Elizabeth Beston in order to collect information about marine plankton around the coast of Norfolk and to share that knowledge with others. Since then, this citizen science project has gone national, with volunteers surveying plankton around the coast of England, Scotland, and Wales. In addition, The Plankton Project engages in outreach, providing workshops, events, and social media content that have enabled thousands of people to see the wonders of the microscopic pelagic world.

In 2024, the Plankton Manifesto (Ocean Stewardship Coalition¹) recommended that more plankton data is required for research, that citizen science could be a part of assessing plankton information, and that plankton literacy amongst the general public (especially children) should be increased. With this in mind, The Plankton Project has 3 goals:

1. Enable other citizen scientists to survey nearshore plankton from coasts local to them by providing training, methodology, a free and online identification guide, community support, and a data flow to DASSH.
2. Increase plankton literacy amongst the general public, giving people of all ages access to information about pelagic organisms and their ecology, encouraging them to take care of the ocean, and inspiring future marine scientists and microbiologists.
3. Provide researchers with observations, images and measurements of Norfolk plankton for analysis by building an open and online library of data

We have a lovely Board of Directors steering The Plankton Project:

Elizabeth Beston
Lucy Capel
Abigail Farndon
Matthew Hirst
Freya Osiatynski