Not quite the fieldwork you expect to do at a marine research institute, but that did now stop @fischerlab.bsky.social! 🏔️ With his team, he climbed the Alps to hunt for giant #viruses – almost the size of #bacteria and have been unexplored in many aspects. #CAPSOLUTION www.mpg.de/my-science-a...

The 2025 #CAPSOLUTION expedition is finished! To sample microbes from 31 mountain lakes across the Alps, we drove 5400 km, hiked 130 km and climbed 10,000 m with our gear, braved snow- and thunderstorms, and filtered 4000 L of water. Well done everyone!! @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Our final lakes for this expedition were the two largest of the Lacs de Vens in Mercantour National Park, France. One of the longer hikes, but as we stayed at the rustic hut (refuge) nearby, we could finish the filtration the following day. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The Grand Lac de Marinet (2540 m) near Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye is well worth a visit, and so is Lac d'Allos (2230 m) in Mercantour National Park. However, be prepared for long drives on narrow & windy mountain roads! #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

In the French Alps, we visited the community of Ceillac (merci for the warm welcome!) and sampled Lac Sainte-Anne (2414 m) and the neighboring Lac Miroir (2215 m). A hot day for hiking with heavy equipment! #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The last two lakes we sampled in Switzerland were Lac des Vaux (2543 m) near Verbier, and the highly frequented Stellisee (2537 m) in Zermatt. Thanks to its accessibility and the views of the Matterhorn, we had a lot of outreach to do! #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Lac de Louvie (2213 m elevation) was an incredibly stunning place to sample for microbes! Many thanks to altis.swiss for letting us use their maintenance cable car :) #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @hoeferlab.bsky.social @maxemilschon.bsky.social

Switzerland welcomed us with summer weather and beautiful mountains! We started with the Lac de Champex (1467 m) which is influenced by human activity, and then hiked up to the Lacs de Fenêtre (2465 m) the next day. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @hoeferlab.bsky.social

Lago Nero (black lake) di Cornisello at 2240 m was rather green when we sampled it. An algal bloom!! This meant changing filters every few minutes. That night, our faces were of similar color (stomach bug) and we skipped the last lake. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Also in Adamello-Brenta, the Tre Laghi are connected by small creeks. We sampled two of them under very different conditions! The upper lake (2289 m) with frequent filter changes in best weather, the lower one (2257 m) much faster in rain. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Our next set of mountain lakes is located in Italy's Adamella Brenta Nature Park. Lago Serodoli (2370 m elevation) is just downstream of Lago Gelato (2388 m), which lived up to its name and made us shiver with ice-cold winds. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The last two lakes in the High Tauern that we sampled were Dösener See (2270 m elevation, up to 44 m deep), and the shallow Stappitzer See (1273 m elevation) that serves as a contrast point to the mountain lakes above the treeline. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

At 2505 m elevation, Brunnkarsee is a spectacular mountain lake surrounded by rocks and sparse vegetation. The trail was steep and technically challenging with all the gear on our backs, but we returned just in time before the rain came. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

We are now in the High Tauern National Park in Austria. Fantastic landscapes, warm-hearted people, but the lakes are not that easy to reach! With Oberer Schwarzhornsee at 2650 m elevation, we sampled the highest lake on the tour. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The next two lakes on the sampling tour were Upper and Middle Plenderlessee in Austria. We got lots of water from the lakes, and also from the skies... Dinoflagellates live here! #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The weather improved for our next tour in the Stubai Alps to Blaue Lacke (2287 m), Grünausee (2335 m), and Freiger See (2500 m), three mountain lakes above the treeline. Strenuous hikes alternated with wet & cold weather during filtration. #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Our home base for the first week was Lake Gossenköllesee at 2416 m elevation. The research station (Univ. of Innsbruck) sheltered us during an unexpected snowstorm in July. See pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33436089 for viruses from this lake! #CAPSOLUTION @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

This week we started the first leg (Stubai Alps) of the #CAPSOLUTION expedition of @fischerlab.bsky.social sampling for giant viruses in high altitude alpine lakes. What an amazing adventure it has been so far! @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social

Last week, we started to collect samples from high-altitude Alpine lakes for the ERC-funded #CAPSOLUTION project! Throughout July and August, we will study the diversity of #viruses, #bacteria, and #protists in these extreme environments. #HorizonEU @erc.europa.eu @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social

Looking for a postdoc in environmental virology? Fascinated by giant viruses and their glycobiology? We have a position available at the MPI for Marine Microbiology! @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social @maxplanck.de career.mpi-bremen.de/jobposting/8...

Post-Doc Protist Viruses

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