SLU helps to launch environmental monitoring and assessment in the Galapagos

In recent years, scientists have seen clear signs that the environmental pressure is increasing on the Galapagos marine life. They have for example found hermaphrodism in fish and that marine iguanas seem to suffer increasingly from skin problems.

The laboratory equipment donated by SLU will be set up at the research station operated by the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, Galapagos. SLU will also provide training and expertise on the analysis and interpretation of pathological tissue changes, under the leadership of Leif Norrgren, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health.

Beate Hillmann, biomedical analyst at the same department, is currently packing the equipment to be shipped to the Galapagos. She has over twenty years of experience in histopathological analysis and will set up the equipment and train the staff on site later this year.