Diatoms: a major group of eukaryotic algae and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular although they can exist as colonies in the shape of filaments or ribbons. Diatoms are fundamental to the food chain as they take energy from the environment in the form of sunlight or inorganic chemicals and use it to create energy-rich molecules such as carbohydrates. The study of diatoms is of vital  importance in the field of nanotechnology but most importantly in relation to this proposal, diatoms are a valuable tool for monitoring environmental conditions and are commonly used in studies of water quality and indicators of environmental change in wetlands and peatlands, - Tracking fish, seabirds, and wildlife population dynamics with diatoms and other liminological indicators’