Diatom collections at Agharkar Research Institute are used to answer scientific questions about things like climate change, environmental reconstruction, phylogenetic relationships, and capacity-building activities.

The collections come from various biogeographic zones of India, representing freshwater, brackish water, and marine habitats. The collection also represents all of the major groups of diatoms, both extinct and living.
Oldest collection in our herbarium dates back to 1940s collected by HP Gandhi from various parts of the Western India

Material Type 

• Microscope slide collections: 9000
• Bottle collection: 4500
• Diatom-bearing sediments and artefacts: 150

Other Resources

• SEM stubs
• Non-permanent strews
• LM micrographs
• SEM images
• Handwritten notes of HP Gandhi
• Sketches and drawings of HP Gandhi
• Taxonomic literature
• Differential Interference Contrast Microscopes

Culture Collection

Our collection also curates cultures belonging to selected freshwater and marine diatoms from India