Seeing the photos from the record-breaking algal bloom on Lake Erie in 2011 was like déjà vu for me. I grew up in the Great Lakes region in the 1960s and 1970s and remember the days when Lake Erie was declared “dead.” I later learned that the green scum that plagued the lake during summer [...]
According to a new multi-investigator study, with contributions from researchers funded by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s (NCCOS) Ecological Forecasting Program in Lake Erie, the record-breaking 2011 Lake Erie cyanobacteria bloom was likely caused by a combination of changing farming practices and weather conditions; conditions predicted to continue under a changing climate. The study led [...]
Yellow perch comprise Lake Erie’s largest commercial fishery and second most important recreational fishery. We presented research results from the NCCOS ecological forecasting (EcoFore) Lake Erie project to the Lake Erie Percid Management Advisory Group (LEPMAG) at the Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission meeting on March 27, 2013. The primary purpose [...]
Don Scavia, a researcher whose work is funded in part by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, presented results from his Lake Erie hypoxia ecological forecasting project. His presentation focused on phosphorus loading, climate influence on those loads, subsequent impacts on dissolved oxygen and harmful algal blooms, and best management practices to control nutrient runoff. Despite [...]
Teaching college undergraduates introductory biology includes helping students understand the relationships between genes, mutations, and the environment interacting together as biological evolution. A complete understanding of evolution requires knowledge that spans many biological sub-disciplines including genetics, cell biology and ecology. A group of professors at Michigan State University developed case studies for teaching evolution. These cases, [...]
A session in Great Lakes Week 2012, an annual gathering of the diverse groups leading the fight to restore the Great Lakes, centers on a research project funded by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. Dr. Don Scavia, lead investigator of the project “Forecasting the Causes and Consequences of Lake Erie Hypoxia” will be a panelist [...]
Research supported by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) will provide the majority of scientific information incorporated into public meetings convened by the International Joint Commission (IJC) in August and September. Eight community meetings in both the U.S. and Canada will seek input from the public about concerns regarding nutrient pollution and its [...]
From July 16-20, scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science joined their counterparts from elsewhere in NOAA, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Michigan to gather zebra mussel samples from a river undergoing extensive remediation to restore its recreational, commercial, and aesthetic benefits to the community of Manistique and [...]