molecular probes targeting HAB species (including their different life cycle stages), difficult to identify with conventional microscopy methods. More information about Lindas biography and publications can be found here. Nomination letter of Linda Medlin to the ISSHA Council There are many, many reasons why Linda deserves this Award. Here we describe just a few. Linda has many accomplishments that qualify her for this prestigious award. Her long and productive scientific career has been crucial to the development of HAB research in Germany and Europe, and includes numerous contributions across the international community. Linda has a strong reputation in the fields of taxonomy and phylogeny. As an example, in a seminal 1988 paper with Mitchell Sogin, which has now been cited more than 2600 times, she published the 18S rRNA primers that are still used around the world for precise phylogenetic description of eukaryotic species and their evolutionary histories. Linda, together with Chris Scholin, was instrumental in the development and application of species specific probes, FISH, and arrays for the rapid detection of HAB species. She initiated several workshops on FISH probe design and its application. Besides her German grants in HAB science and being the first and most productive scientist in German HAB science, she is also one of the foremost Euro-HAB scientists, as she led and initiated several successful HAB projects funded by the EU. Besides being extraordinarily focused on her scientific career, she has always been known for her excitement and never-ending enthusiasm, and she is a great promotor of women in science! She has always fought for highly qualified women to make their careers based on their science and professional qualities. One thing that stands out is her dynamic role at HAB conferences; she was always active in keeping the scientific discussion running no matter what the topic. There was always the threat for the Chair to keep her controlled, allowing for no more than two brilliant questions, however Chairs, as well as the audience, benefitted by having Linda in the audience ensuring a high quality discussion among many HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 69 / 2022 different fields of HAB research. We have always been impressed by her deep and wide knowledge about nearly everything that matters in science! Linda moved from the USA to the UK in 1983 and later to the AWI Germany (1991-2008). After being very creative and active during this period, she started in France (2009) at the CRNS Banuyls sur Mer. She has been heavily involved in studies of the molecular ecology of many HAB species, establishing the backbone for studies on diatom phylogeny and leading several investigations on diatom evolution, and pushing genetic studies of a variety of toxic HAB species, often in collaboration with colleagues from all over the world. Many of Lindas PhD students and postdocs have moved into successful careers of their own, which has been a greater stimulus for plankton research in its own right. Her scientific productivity is exemplary, with about 200 peer-reviewed papers and more than 17,500 citations on a wide array of topics, in particular in the HAB field. In summary, Linda Medlin is a creative and highly critical thinker with broad and significant impacts in HAB research, as well as major contributions to the educational aspects of our field. She has always been one of the most creative and productive members of our community, and has positively impacted the lives and careers of many people in HAB research. She eminently deserves the Yasumoto Award, and we therefore urge the Selection Committee to recognize her accomplishments and service with this honor. The timing would be perfect as Linda just recently retired from her long and impressive scientific career. Nomination letter of Linda Medlin for the Yasumoto Lifetime Achievement Award 2021. Presented by Marina Montresor, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli; supported and signed by 18 more senior HAB experts from Europe (11), North America (3), Asia (4) and Australia (1). Sing Tung Teng with a carving of a tropical Synophysis from Prof Takayama. The ISSHA 2021 Patrick Gentien Young Scientist Award Sing Tung Teng received the ISSHA 2021 Patrick Gentien Award in recognition for his outstanding research about the diversity, systematics and erection of new diatoms species within the genus Pseudo-nitzschia. Species of this genus produce domoic acid, the neurotoxin responsible for the Amnesic Shellfish poisoning (ASP) syndrome. The candidate nomination was presented by ISSHA members Profs Chui Pin Leaw (Malaysia), Stephen Bates (Canada) and 12 more senior scientists China (3), Japan (4), Malaysia (3), The Philippines (2) and Singapore (1). Sing Tung began his research on the diversity of Pseudo-nitzschia species in the tropical Western Pacific region when he was working on his master degree. There was very little information about the causative organisms of ASP in this vast region. Four years after completing his PhD thesis under the supervision of Dr. Po Teen Lim, he had made impressive accomplishments. His sound knowledge of the taxonomy of pennate diatoms combined with his skills with molecular tools led him to the erection of several new species that included: P. kodamae, P. sabit, P. bipertita, P. limii (Teng et al. 2014, 2015, 2016). He also contributed substantially to the descriptions of P. circumpora, P. batesiana, P. lundholmiae, P. fukuyoi, P. simulans, P. nanaoensis, P. chiniana, P. qiana, P. uniseriata, and P. yuensis. He has been involved in the description of more than half (29 out of 53) the species of Pseudo-nitzschia in the tropical 11 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 69 - February 2022 https://hab.ioc-unesco.org/ The 19th (1st Virtual) International Conference on Harmful Algae hosted from Mexico The 19th International Conference on Harmful Algae (19 ICHA), was held in a virtual format for Lobby of the virtual ICHA 2021 costs to attend the meeting. The Conference started with two pre-conference sessions of the Young Investigator Networking Session coordinated by Lorena Durán, Carlos Rodríguez, Philipp Hess, and Harry Nelson. Previously, Lorena Durán and Carlos Rodríguez interviewed o The Mexican scientists comprising the Local Organizing Committee special sessions held live on Zoom that covered breakthrough topics on harmful algae from marine and freshwater environments: HAB Early Warning Systems Session, Impacts of HABs on fish farms: Addressing industry and global insurance n Scientific Highlights of the 19th International Conference on Harmful Algae Summarizing all of the science from a conference is a huge and perhaps impossible task, but once done, it can serve as a reference for the future. We had five exciting and intensive virtual conference days where all the late predatorial protists, viruses, and bacteria (Alexandra Worden). Several plenary talks highlighted insights on HAB management, including emergent management strategies for monitoring, biotoxin detection, and human health risks associated with Ciguatera Poisoning (Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein); com Fig. 2. Long-term history of HABs off Eastern Tasmania, Australia, using sedimentary DNA (courtesy of Linda Armbrecht) French Mediterranean and a French Atlantic K. veneficum strain induced over 50% loss of cell viability. A high level of intra-specific variability of ichthyotoxic activity was obse pacificum and Durusdinium trenchii) to be successfully frozen and revived with high viability (Joseph Kihika). This highlights the potential to have a microalgae diversity bank in the future. Several presentations were focused on the intimate association between hosts and their microbiomes (Chri Fig. 4. Example from a weekly HAB bulletin reporting HAB events along the Irish coast (courtesy of Dave Clarke) harvested along the coast. Analysis of seawater and oyster samples confirmed high levels of PSP toxins (Margarita Fernández-Tejedor). The design, implementation, and contents of HAB bulle for lake ecosystem services and selection of environmental measures together with local farmers, which may reduce overall costs (Claudia Wiegand). A special session on the new WHO book Toxic cyanobacteria in water provided advice and guidelines for the management of freshwater cyanobacterial blooms, ISSHA's Corner The International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA) convened the 19th (1st Digital) International Conference on Harmful Algae (19 ICHA), held in La Paz, México, from 10th to 15th October 2021. The ISSHA Council had monthly meetings on-line between May and October to plan molecular probes targeting HAB species (including their different life cycle stages), difficult to identify with conventional microscopy methods. More information about Lindas biography and publications can be found here. Nomination letter of Linda Medlin to the ISSHA Council There are many, many re waters of the South China Sea, a marginal sea of the Western Pacific (Teng et al. 2013, 2014). Sing Tung Teng has demonstrated his training and dissemination skills by introducing a taxonomic grouping of Pseudo-nitzschia based on frustule morphology, which eventually developed into an interactive ke from some species of Rhodophyta to the cultures significantly enhanced the growth of the two Gambierdiscus species that occur in Japan. He is now starting an investigation to clarify the effect of bacteria on Gambierdiscus growth in an attempt to elucidate the growth characteristics of Gambierdiscus ISSHA President goodbye Dear ISSHA members: As many of you know, at the general glection held prior to the International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA2021) from 11-15 October 2021 (La Paz, Mexico), I stepped down as the president of the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA UNESCO Taxonomic Reference List of Harmful Micro Algae Editors Workshop 2021 On November 18-19th 2021, the nine thematic editors responsible for the UNESCO Taxonomic Reference List of Harmful Micro Algae and Henrik Enevoldsen from IOC-UNESCO gathered together in a hybrid format workshop, to discuss Book Review: A Catalogue of Phytoplankton from the Mexican CentralPacific (in Spanish) Authors: Hernández-Becerril, D.U., Barón-Campis, S.A., Ceballos-Corona, J.G.A., Alonso-Rodríguez, R., RinconesReyes, K.M., Becerra-Reynoso, R.T. & Arce-Rocha, G. 2021. Catálogo de fitoplancton del Pacífico central Forthcoming Events 2022 UN Ocean Conference GLOBAL ONLINE STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION Inputs to concept papers of interactive dialogues Contribute your inputs to the concept papers of the interactive dialogues for the 2022 UN Ocean Conference! (see back page) Deadline: 21 February 2022 Contribute your GlobalHAB symposium on automated in situ observations of plankton Aims and background Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are affecting aquatic ecosystems and human societies. Biotoxin-producing HABs species and species causing fish mortalities are problems for aquaculture, fisheries and also for tourism. H www.neiwpcc.org/events/ushab11 #USHAB2022 For logo contest rules, please visit our conference website. We are pleased to announce that the 11th U.S. Symposium on Harmful Algae will be held on October 23-28, 2022 in Albany, New York, at the Hilton Albany. Local coordination is being led by NEIWPCC, Eds-in-chief Beatriz Reguera, IEO (CSIC), Vigo, Spain Eileen Bresnan, Marine Scotland, UK Regional Editors Caribbean: Ernesto Mancera jemancerap@unal.edu.co Atlantic Europe: Maud Lemoine Maud.Lemoine@ifremer.fr Mediterranean Sea: Adriana Zingone zingone@szn.it India: K.B. Padmakumar kbpadmakumar